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Congress on Christian work 
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Christian Work in: South 


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OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE CONGRESS ON 
CHRISTIAN WORK IN SOUTH AMERICA, 
AT MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY, APRIL, 1925 


Edited by 
Committee on Cooperation in Latin America 
ROBERT E. SPEER 
Chairman 
SAMUEL G. INMAN 
Secretary 


FRANK K. SANDERS 


Chairman of Editorial Committee 


VOLUME II 


CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY, RELIGIOUS EDU- 
CATION, LITERATURE, RELATIONS BETWEEN 
FOREIGN AND NATIONAL WORKERS, SPECIAL RE- 
LIGIOUS PROBLEMS, COOPERATION AND UNITY 





New York CHICAGO 


Fleming H. Revell Company 


LONDON AND EpINBURGH 


199! 


Copyright, Mcmxxv, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 


New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 


Contents 


VOLUME II 


Report VII, THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY.. 3-73 


Francis J. McConnell, Bishop of Pittsburgh Area 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 


Report VIII, Revicrous EDUCATION ............4.. 77-158 
Eric M. North, Assistant Secretary Board of 
Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 


PORTMAN IIT TRA T URE oa ule a oa x civics e's Gavasie a4 161-240 


Harry Farmer, Chairman Committee on Litera- 
ture of the Committee on Cooperation in Latin 
America. 


Report X, RELATIONS BETWEEN ForEIGN AND Na- 
LON AS NVV OR KERSMR: 05" 's's.4 0% bcclsye >< 08 Urol eee. « 243-292 


E. H. Rawlings, Secretary Board of Foreign 
Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 


Report XI, Specrar RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS ........ 295-377 
John A. Mackay, Director Anglo-Peruvian Col- 
lege, Lima, Peru. 
Report XII, Cooperation AND UNITY ............ 381-461 


S. H. Chester, Secretary Executive Committee of 
Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church 
in the U. S. 


APPENDIX: Delegates and Visitors to the Congress. 462-468 
COSTA G Meche Sie Aa RGE ORD Ut IRA RI tery Ss Te OR La 469-474 


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THE REPORT OF COMMISSION SEVEN 
ON 
THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


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Contents 


MS FETC COR VAT ATT Ue x re ci odustes athe tats Seg hahaa nahn dake 


v Il. Tur Report oF THE BRAZILIAN COMMISSION...... 


Y 


Pee MULCH ET Citibank vets fon ain wae 


f2. Some of Its Community Problems............. 


3. The Study of Community Problems by the Bra- 
Pileart Crier cite ae ee oes WRT ee bahay 
(a) The Attitude of Religious Leaders and 


WICC TON ttc outta na EMM oan sual, 

(b) The Attitude of the Community in Regard 

tothe: GHarerere es. 09 Nee ae ds te 

(c) The Explanation of These Attitudes and 

Eis LN PrOVeriene ee ete hows 0 oars 

III. Tue REPorT FROM THE CHILE COMMISSION....... 
1. The Ministry of the Church to the Community. 

(a) “Phrough the Pulpit (ren tual. Hod 

(Db) wehrougneeaurcl) Schools: neues Wsicinaars 


2. The Relation of the Churches to Community 
A a Rk Sa RON | 1 cl Ro AY a 

2. alhe Chureh Studying jlte Community. 4ck . « 
(a) The Attitude of Religious Leaders........ 
(b) The Attitude of the Community in General 

CO TNS TA RCTR ale ie EE es Sokene'icl 

Ce). Goma mrp tyne VAY alii 7s + be ENP steal cide lena 

4. The Church Building a Community Program... 
Ga) witsnO nistandime yiNeeds) | een oa then 
(b) The Value of Its Various Activities...... 

5. The Projection of a Community Program in 
Each Important Center in South America...... 


IV. THe Report FROM THE PERU COMMISSION........ 


1. The Relation of the Church and the Community. 
(a)i; The,Ministryof.the Pulpit) oiyeyt oo. 0. 22: 
Abel he Chun SCHOOLS ie) ikl iiithe Mme a, 
(c) The Solution of Community Problems..... 

2. The Church Studying Its Community.......... 
(a) The Attitude of Religious Leaders........ 
(b) The Attitude of the Community Leaders.. 
tcjn AY Communiey Sutvey on ott pai aa sce oe} 


3 


4 CONTENTS 
3. Building the Church’s Community Program.... 26 


(a) (OntstandingGeeds wick wns sian cients Senna ere 26 
(b)) The Services ctaWorsbiphs. 2. .osainet tee 26 
(c) An \Hyvangelisticm rogram: ate cement tee 26 
(dd). Soci PLOgTams a wiriGi. 6 ete & evale ee ame 26 
V. THe REPoRT FROM THE COLOMBIA COMMISSION.... 26 
1. Lhe Church ini the ‘Community eu cate ee ae 26 
(a) The) Ministry ofthe, Pulpit ec ih aeee oa) 

(b) Organizations Which Reach the Gait 
TUITE ee ae Uc ea ol Pee 27 

2. The Relation of the Churches to Community 
Litewe eer. mr aati" ha ves re Sag eens at oie 27 
(a) AttitudercivOteials ese CL eee eee 27 
(b): AttituderotaBducators inv il. aw eae ote 28 
(c) Attitude of Business and Professional Men. 28 
(d) The Explanation of These Attitudes...... 28 
(e)Theirhimprovement |). meee ne sienna 28 
3. Building the Community Program ............ 29 
(a) Its! Ontstanding iNéeds 2) Cetin Stee 29 
4, Enrichment/of Worship 3.0 (:2:098. Vay one 29 
VI. Tue Report of THE RivER PLate COMMISSION.... 29 
tJPhe Goathorcthe Charen...) 0, See tee eee 30 
2.’Some of the’ Problems It, Faces. ci... .4 ee ee 30 
3. The Church Studying Its Community......... 32 
(a) The Attitude of Christian Leaders........ a2 
(b) The Attitude of the Community.......... 33 
(c) The Attitude of Organized Labor......... 34 
(d) The ‘Association’s Experiment .0,...0ee 34 


4. Building the Church’s Community Program.... 35 
(a) Church Activities and Community Needs.. 35 


(hb): Lhe Evangehstic Program (0.1 ae soee 36 

(c) The Enrichment of Worship ............. 37 

(d)), Church “Buildings a.6 verse eee 39 

VII. THe REporT FROM THE VENEZUELAN COMMISSION. 39 
rdhe Church in the’ Community 7.45400 39 

Cay The Goal ial i Tae aes eal Oe rege 40 

(b)/ Whe Agencies ik Myo tir een ame 40 

Ci The (Bibles yy ae a ee ae ae 40 

(2a he Pulpit 0. Pew Mie aie cia 40 

(3)5 ‘Phe Church School##7) ve 4847 2) eae 40 


(4)\Church: Organizations) i... to. eee 41 


CONTENTS 5 


2. The Church Studying Its Community......... 41 
(a) The Social Mission of the Churches...... 4I 
(b) The Attitude of the Common People in 
CONTA Levene oie Wir caksa sbstan Oral lsat, cue! e's 42 
(c) Their Attitude; How Improved? ene aN te 42 
(d) Community Surveys PNG ce, Nieioheve GPE ATG ike 42 
Vill. Tue CuurcH anp Pusiic OPINION.............. 42 
1. The Influence of Suitable Buildings........... 43 
2. The Influence of National Adaptation......... 43 


IX. THe Inpivipuar, GosPEL AND THE SocraL GOSPEL.. 44 


X. Latin AMERICAN FEELING AS To SOME PoLici£s 


OPTHEYUI NITED OTATES Act Ch ied oe 2 a We Caen 47 
XI, THE SECRET OF THE SLOW ProcrEss OF EVANGEL- 
DUCAT ay VW ORE ce oe Ste SORTING CRN UNE Te Oi 51 
1. Reasons for the Lack of Religious Feeling in 
SOUL AMeni Cale i mani tli y setietcvd bay oltateid, & 52 
(a) Our Greco-Roman Antecedents on Re- 
TIP IOUS HIVES CERT Sa uae a iets ov eaeaielila sy are aia 52 
(b) The Psychology of the Spanish People 
Which We Have Inherited...5.......... 52 
(c) The Military Conquest of South America. . 52 
fay, Lopular anditrererces (x's. sin eae | pete 52 
(e) Our Condition as a People in Embryo..... 52 
2. Regarded.as Essentially Anglo-Saxon......... 53 
Mi 3. The Errors of the Churches in Their Work.... 53 
(a) Lack of Instruction in the Pastorate...... 53 
(b) Lack of Appreciation for the National 
Pevian elisha Oke in cells cy ck aM cane wan we 54 
(c) Lack of Efficiency in the Great Diffusion 
ie HEEB epee nhs shee ee ka Cala nlon 54 
4. The Special Needs of the Evangelical Move- 
SYIOTI EMULE Pele N isle sla laiae 4c a] simmer avec, ott tre ahem gi 56 
(a) Preach, Before All and Above All, Christ. 56 
CB yp Lorensit ys oocial) Servicerc.. ame eit 56 
5. Phe Understanding’ of the Work<..0 ) oss .58 3 56 
XII. TwetveE Conciusions REGARDING THE DEVELOP- 
MENT OF CHRISTIAN WORK IN THE FUTURE...... 57 
PELL DISCUSSION/ OF, THE, REPORB oe etite a) veils o'e nie ue Bales 62 


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THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 
I. INTRODUCTORY 


In the preparation of this Report the outline given 
below was sent to workers actually at their posts in Latin 
American fields. It was not intended to follow the 
conventional questionnaire method, but rather to suggest 
to these correspondents a desirable plan of treatment. 
Communications have been received from Brazil, Chile, 
Colombia, The River Plate Region, Peru and Venezuela. 
When the documents were all in hand, it seemed best not 
to cut them into sections to be distributed as discussions of 
the various topics suggested in the outline. The Commis- 
sion chose rather to preserve, as far as possible, the con- 
tinuity of each regional treatment. To these various ap- 
proaches to the main theme, contributed by workers in 
six of the larger South American fields, have been added 
some special contributions made by Latin Americans who 
are not themselves directly involved in church activities. 
Such points of view the Congress cannot afford to over- 
look. The following outline was sent to each field: 


TuE CHURCH IN THE COMMUNITY. 


I, The Relation of the Church and the Community. 
1. The Church’s goal: the establishment of the Kingdom 
of God on earth. 
a. The regeneration of individual lives. 
b. The redemption of human relationships. 
2. The Ministry of the Church to the Community. 
a. The pulpit. 
b. The church school. 
ce. Church organizations which have a definite rela- 
tion to community organizations or are continuous 
with them. 


II. The Church Studying its Community. 
1. What are the attitudes of pastors, church members, 


7 


8 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


missionaries, mission Boards, etc., toward the social 
mission of the Church? 

2. What is the attitude of the community in general in 
South America—government officials, educators, busi- 
ness and professional leaders, organized labor, etc.— 
to the Church? 

3. How are these attitudes to be explained and how can 
they be improved? 

4. What uses have been and should be made of com- 
munity surveys? 


III. Building the Church's Community Program. 
1. What are the outstanding needs of the community to 
which this Church should address itself? 
2. How can each activity of the Church be made to 
serve the community needs? 

a. The service of worship—Are the elements of this 
service, the sermon, prayer, hymns, etc., such as to 
build up an intelligent devotion to the ideals of 
the Kingdom? 

b. The evangelistic program. 

c. The educational program. 

d. The Church as a fellowship; a builder of broth- 
erhood. 

e. The church financial system. 


IV. Study of the Ways to Project a Community Program in 
each Important Center in South America. 
V. The Enrichment of Worship. 


1. What Latin Americans look for in the church service. 

2. Churches which attract people and their secret. 

3. Are common forms of service and a common hymnal 
advisable? | 


VI. Church Architecture. 
1. Types of Church buildings most desirable. 


II. THE REporT OF THE BRAZILIAN COMMISSION. 


1. The Church’s Goal. 
The church’s goal is the establishment of the Kingdom 
of God on earth, and the establishment of any kingdom 


REPORT OF BRAZILIAN COMMISSION 9 


depends first of all upon the relationships of its citizens. 
The regeneration of individual lives and the redemption 
of human relationships are inevitably interwoven. In the 
first place, the regenerated one must work for others, or, 
like the unclean spirit, he will again be lost. His efforts 
must be primarily for the uplift of the community. ‘“‘ By 
their works ye shall know them.” How can an unbeliever 
be attracted by the religion of a man who is indifferent to 
the suffering and injustice in his own surroundings? 

The redemption of human relationships furnishes both 
a training school for believers and a point of contact for 
reaching others with the gospel message. Moreover, the 
man submerged by the problem of gaining his daily bread 
and that of his dependents, with odds so great against him 
that the preoccupation haunts him day and night, is not 
in a mood to heed a message in regard to the hereafter. 
The work of making a community Christian demands the 
same spirit of prayer and devotion as the task of making 
individual Christians. 


2. Some of Its Community Problems, 


Among the problems that demand careful consideration 
are the use of alcohol, gambling, illiteracy, personal and 
domestic hygiene, public health and civic responsibility. 

The success of effort along many of these lines depends 
not only on the activities of individuals or groups, but 
equally on the formation of public opinion. Wherever 
well directed secular societies are organized to promote 
the ends in view, they should receive the hearty support 
of the members of our churches and Sunday-schools. 

So far as the Commission is aware there is compara- 
tively little strictly social work undertaken by any of the 
Brazilian churches, but as exceptions may be noted: The 
work carried on by the “Instituto Central de Povo,” at 
Rio, that of the Egreja Institutional, at Porto Alegre, the 
“ Hospicio,” in Castro, Parana, started by believers inter- 
ested in social work, and the “ Retiro Evangelico,’ at 
Caxambu, Minas. The new building of the Fluminense 
Church, Rio, is planned with the idea of carrying on social 
activities or of developing them in the near future. 

In regard to social enterprises in the community to 


10 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


which church members may give their support, it may be 
said that up to the present time the Evangelical elements 
in the community have been very loath to support enter- 
prises not originating within their own organizations. 
There are evidences that this attitude is changing in part 
and that it can be changed radically under proper leader- 
ship within the churches. 

Concerning the problems mentioned above it may be 
said that the church shows some interest in all the means 
Seing used for their solution. 

The use of alcohol_—Each Sunday-school and church is 
supposed to be a sort of temperance society, yet few prac- 
tical plans, aside from promoting personal habits of tem- 
perance, have been presented. ‘The Anti-Alcohol League 
has received generous support from our churches, but the 
League itself does not seem to be very active at the 
present time. 

Gambling —There is need of more thorough instruction 
of Sunday-school and church members concerning this 
evil. Furthermore, the attitude of Christian people needs 
to be crystallized in constructive studies concerning its 
results and by coordinated effort in behalf of law enforce- 
ment, better legislation and arousing the moral sense of 
the community. 

Ilhteracy—Aside from the church and _ parochial 
schools a good many churches have conducted classes for 
instruction to the illiterates in its community. This work 
should be systematized and encouraged everywhere. 


Child-W elfare —But little seems to have been done in 
an organized way. With proper supervision the develop- 
ment of the Cradle Roll Department of the Sunday- 
schools could be made to contribute materially to the 
welfare of the little ones. With proper resources at its 
command the Brazil Sunday School Union might be able 
to organize this phase of work most helpfully. 

Personal and Domestic Hygiene—Beside the giving of 
some public instruction from the pulpit and in Sunday- 
school classes, the Home Department of the Sunday- 
school might be equipped with proper literature and with 
instructions to its house visitors. 


REPORT OF BRAZILIAN COMMISSION 11 


Public Health—Red Cross and other similar cam- 
paigns under proper direction should be supported. 

Civic Responsibility—Only a few Evangelicals have 
cared to take part in political activities, but the feeling is 
growing that if politics are to be cleaned up the good 
people of each community must take a hand in the process 
and that therefore Christians have here a duty to perform. 
In view of the fact that in Brazil only those vote who can 
pass an educational test, and in view of the additional fact 
that a larger per cent. of Evangelical church members can 
qualify than of the population at large, it seems possible 
for them to assert a wholesome influence in the politics of 
the country wholly out of proportion to their numerical 
strength. Means should be provided, however, for estab- 
lishing the rights of those who are qualified to be electors 
but are denied the right because they cherish views con- 
trary to that of the authorities in power. 

The fact that elections are held on Sunday deters 
many Evangelicals from participating in them. Efforts 
are being made to have elections held on week days. 
In the meantime church members should be encouraged 
to vote. 


3. The Study of Community Problems by the Brazilian 
Churches. 


Strictly speaking, no study of the social problems of 
the community has been made by the Evangelical forces 
in Brazil. There even prevails a sentiment that social 
problems which do not affect the organization of the 
churches or the moral conduct of the individual members 
of the church, are altogether outside the field of Evangel- 
ical activities. Moreover, the Brazilian people are not 
very alive to social problems as such. Even some edu- 
cated people are cocksure that there are no social problems 
to be faced. The lack of interest among the Evangelical 
forces in social problems is nothing more than a reflex 
of this general attitude. This, however, does not mean 
that Evangelicals are indifferent to social suffering. It is 
rather due to the fact that becoming a Christian usually 
means such a change in the life of a man that he is no 
longer a dependent. In Brazil, the Christian spirit of 


12 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


service is a mark of genuine faith. In several crises 
caused by epidemics of unemployment, Christian workers 
and organizations have done wonderful work. 

(a) The attitude of religious leaders and workers.— 
Notwithstanding the fact that some missionaries, native 
ministers and laymen believe in a “ social gospel,” it may 
safely be stated that the prevailing attitude among the 
leaders of the Evangelical forces is decidedly adverse to 
any social work carried on by the churches as a’ discharge 
of the great commission. Everywhere, both missionaries 
and native workers are found who oppose social service 
as an undue dissipation of sacred funds and of energy 
which ought to be invested in the preaching of the gospel. 
The attitude of the native congregations on this question 
reflects in some measure the attitude of the missionaries. 

No official statement emanating from the mission 
Boards regarding the social mission of the Church is 
- known on the field. The missionaries sometimes repre- 
sent conflicting views, and each one, very humanly, takes 
it for granted that he represents the true attitude of his 
Board. 

The fact that there are some hospitals established by 
the Evangelical churches does not mean the churches have 
in a real sense become conscious of their social mission. 
The principal purpose in establishing such institutions has 
been to provide for the needs of patients who would 
otherwise be dependent upon the nuns and priests who 
serve in the hospitals which belong to ancient Roman 
Catholic brotherhoods, and to give them greater comfort 
and cheaper treatment. The truth is that in Brazil, with 
the exception of two experiments carried on by institu- 
tional churches, the only organized program of social 
work as an expression of Christian consciousness is that 
of the Young Men’s and the Young Women’s Christian 
Associations. 

(b) The attitude of the community in regard to the 
church.—To gauge the attitude of the community at large 
toward the Evangelical churches it must be recalled that 
Evangelical Christianity in Brazil is under the ban of the 
Roman Catholic Church, as the following official declara- 
tion indicates: 


REPORT OF BRAZILIAN COMMISSION 13 


“ Protestantism is a fruit of human pride in revolt against 
the authority of the Church; a monk and a nun, forgetting 
the holy vows of celibacy, were the originators of this revolt; 
kings and princes have patronized this movement to find a 
way of escaping from the sacramental ties of matrimony ; 
the absence of images and religious symbols is a proof of 
atheism; missions are a business proposition, whose chief 
exploiters are the Bible Societies; missionaries are political 
agents who are working with a view to denationalize the 
people and pave the way for commercial and political inter- 
ests of Anglo-Saxon nations.” 


Education, personal intercourse and travel are modify- 
ing in proportion to circumstances this general attitude. 
The official attitude of the government is one of absolute 
neutrality in religion. Religious liberty, the separation of 
church and state, civil marriages, the secularization of 
cemeteries and lay schools are guaranteed by the Constitu- 
tion. No privileges are granted to any class or organi- 
tion and the rights of the minorities are recognized. But 
the interpretation and enforcement of these laws depend 
on the character and personal attitude of the Executive, 
either in federal, state or municipal government. 

Roman Catholicism being the religion of the majority 
of the inhabitants, the ordinary form of public honors to 
prominent citizens, either living or dead, is a high mass, 
celebrated very often at the expense of the national treas- 
ury. This practise is attacked by Evangelicals and by 
anti-clericals as a breach of the neutrality of the state. 
On the other hand, President Bernardes, government 
officials and diplomatic representatives attended the Evan- 
gelical memorial service to the late President Harding, 
the Minister of Foreign Affairs making the official ad- 
dress on the occasion. 

Teachers and professional men, who know the work 
done by the Evangelical schools, exhibit an attitude of 
good will toward Evangelical Christianity as represented 
by the schools. The social influence of the schools is such 
that the fiercest attacks of the Roman Catholic clergy are 
aimed at them. The attitude of prominent members of 
the National Council of Education against granting of- 


14 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


ficial recognition of diplomas issued by Mackenzie 
College was based on technicalities of law and on a con- 
servative reaction against the introduction of new stand- 
ards of educational evaluation of curricula rather than on 
religious bigotry. 

Business men, through literature and personal inter- 
views, frequently become interested in Christian work; 
and, when convinced that Evangelical work has a social 
value, gladly contribute to it. ‘The best supporters of the 
work of the two Christian Associations are foreigners and 
business men who, having been abroad, know them and 
their work. The legislation which enforces Sunday clos- 
ing of shops and factories has removed a barrier that shut 
off business men from the churches. 

Labor organizations are usually rather opposed to 
Protestantism, either because they have been organized 
and developed under the leadership of men imbued with 
anarchistic ideas, or because they are created by Roman 
Catholic agencies. Moreover, saloons and cheap recre- 
ations attract the laborers on Sunday and obstruct the 
way of reaching the laboring classes, so that very little is 
being done to reach them as a class. No definite attempt 
can be alleged, except the establishment of a very at- 
tractive church building in Votorantim in the State of 
Sao Paulo, in the neighborhood of a large factory where 
many church members have abandoned agriculture to 
become weavers in the cotton mill. 

As a class, especially when organized under the leader- 
ship of “advanced ” social reformers, workingmen are a 
most difficult group to reach. But they welcome any 
work done by Christian agencies for their wives and 
children. 

Soldiers and satlors, when under command of liberal 
officers, are easy to reach in the barracks, A large num- 
ber of Christian young men are enlisted every year for 
one year’s service. A good number of men in uniform 
may be seen in the churches established in military cen- 
ters. The Naval Department of the Young Men’s Chris- 
tian Association in Rio is a favorite resort of sailors, 
being open only to the sailors. 

There is a big opportunity for work among conscripts 


REPORT OF BRAZILIAN COMMISSION 15 


for military service. But the Evangelical churches have 
not organized a system of information whereby pastors 
working in places where barracks are located may be 
notified promptly regarding the Evangelical young men 
who are there doing service. Thus many coming from 
Christian homes are left practically uncared for to drift 
among the temptations of new conditions of life. 

Farm laborers have furnished a large part of the 
strength of the Evangelical churches in rural districts. 
Many of the churches, which are strongholds of Protest- 
antism in the interior, are located on coffee plantations 
owned by Christians or in towns of agricultural regions, 
where on Sunday mornings a large number of people, 
walking, or on horseback, flock to the church to attend 
Sunday-school and worship. 

(c) The explanation of these attitudes and their im- 
provement.—To explain these attitudes one should take 
into account the general social conditions that everywhere 
prevail, caused, predominantly, by Roman Catholic in- 
fluences. The effect of Roman Catholicism on the minds 
of the people tends (1) to kill private initiative by making 
the individual dependent for everything on the Church 
and on the government, and enforcing uniformity; (2) to 
produce an extreme individualism, because, as a result of 
the control of a central organization, the individual does 
not develop social, democratic cooperation and becomes 
incapacitated for team-work, tending to express himself 
in isolated individual action; (3) to make tradition and 
custom the directive principle in social life. These prin- 
ciples grow out of those insisted upon by the Roman 
Catholic Church: that outside the church there is no sal- 
vation, that the stamp of the true Church is uniformity 
and unity of government; that every one has to accept 
the Church’s teaching or be lost; and that no action or 
idea is legitimate, unless approved by the powers that 
rule the Church. The large majority of Latin Americans 
being Roman Catholics, it is politically and religiously 
unpleasant to be identified with the minority. 

Educational and religious workers in these republics 
have to create and develop the great social principles of 
democratic Christianity in order to produce a change of 


16 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


attitude in public consciousness. ‘The task is an enor- 
mous one, since even in the Evangelical churches a 
reaction is noticeable towards conservatism, routine and 
individualism. 

These facts help to explain why the social gospel is 
generally considered a dangerous innovation. Sociology 
has only recently been introduced into the curricula of 
seminaries as a subject of study. No training school for 
social workers has been established, although recently the 
Young Men’s Christian Association proposed the organ- 
ization of a technical institute for secretaries. This would 
be the only school in Brazil where actual social work is 
offered in the curriculum. 

Another great hindrance in enlisting the churches in 
this work is to be found in the discrimination between 
“religious ” and ‘ secular,” as made in the Roman Cath- 
olic Church. Whatever is done by the clergy, in the 
church or according to a stated form of worship, is “ re- 
ligious ”; everything else is “secular.” When an Evan- 
gelical church is formed, this discrimination creeps in. 
Anything besides worship and prayer is not considered as 
religious, but as secular. Consequently, most of the E,van- 
gelical brethren in Brazil classify civic or social celebra- 
tions, recreations and educatidnal work in general, as 
“secular,” 2. e., as non-religious. Whenever they come 
into conflict with the schedule of church services or with 
the requirements for “church” work, they are deemed 
not only inconvenient, but even baneful. A typical illus- 
tration is afforded by the fact that the best woman’s hos- 
pital in the country, founded by a lay society, was being 
equipped. A campaign for beds and bedding was afoot. 
Each bed, the best to be obtained, was to have a metal 
tablet affixed with the name of the donor. A suggestion 
was made to the local Ladies’ Aid Society that this was a 
rare opportunity for service. After due consideration, 
the society decided that its obligations to the church were 
so pressing that it could not afford to contribute to a 
secular cause. 

There is no reasonable hope of changing this attitude 
of the churches without a numerous ministry well pre- 
pared and wide awake to the opportunities and duties of 


REPORT FROM THE CHILE COMMISSION 17 


Christian social work. Some cooperation might be 
planned in the use of the equipment of the Young Men’s 
Christian Association for the training of its secretaries 
for social work to enable the candidates for the ministry 
to have the best opportunity to equip themselves for 
church work. 

The social enlargement of the work of the Evangelical 
churches involves a proper organization of church tinan- 
ces, a coordination of campaigns for funds and a sane 
scheme of training lay workers. ‘These constitute an 
enormous task which challenges our best thought and 
earnest attention. Christian schools should feel their re- 
sponsibility for the teaching of ethics as a means of Chris- 
tianizing the social order. Missionary leaders should 
make it a definite object of their prayer and work. The 
efforts of all should be centralized at the seminaries to 
make them efficient training centers for an efficient mod- 
ern ministry. The discussion of the social responsibilities 
of the Church should never involve a contrasting of the 
social and the evangelizing enterprises of the Church. 
Rather should we urge that life is a unity, that faith and 
conduct are inseparable; and that a new social order is 
the legitimate outcome of true evangelism. 

| 


Ill. Tur Report FROM THE CHILE COMMISSION. 


1. The Ministry of the Church to the Community. 

(a) Through the pulpit—The pulpit is of first impor- 
tance in the ministry of the Church. It is the voice of the 
Church, the center of its life and activity. But the pulpit 
is what the minister makes it. It ought to reach the un- 
saved, to build Christian character, to stir a whole com- 
munity to civic righteousness and to permeate all social 
and industrial institutions with Christian principles. To 
accomplish this the minister must be qualified by train- 
ing, by intellectual capacity and by spiritual endowment 
to be a real leader and guide in the church and in the 
community. | 

A national pastor says: “Our pastors and their peo- 
ple are not wielding the public influence which they 
ought to have. They have not the leadership which 


18 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


they ought to possess. They are not prominent in the 
intellectual life of the community. It is a pity that the 
Evangelical churches do not have workers better prepared 
intellectually.” 

There are other conditions which make the entering of 
the service of Christ difficult. The places of worship too 
often are small and very unattractive. The people who 
attend are mostly of the poor. Many hesitate to have 
their friends see them in such associations. ‘To break 
with the dearest associations of the past and enter a 
service so humble requires great sacrifice. Nor is it easy 
for a strong self-respecting man to enter the ministry 
under conditions which seem to him unjust and humili- 
ating, which deny him the freedom of other educated men, 
and consign him to poverty. The proper remedy for these 
conditions is not by any immediate change in social ideals 
and customs, but first by the appropriate attitude of the 
missionary and then by the provision of trained pulpit 
leadership. 

From the missionary emanate the ideals of Christian 
life and service. He is the founder and guide of the 
infant churches. It is true also that the man in the pulpit 
must be thoroughly prepared. A course in theology, even 
a good one, is not sufficient. The minister who is to bea 
real leader should have a broad general education which 
will equip him with knowledge and give him a well 
trained mind. 

(b) Through church schools—rThe courses of study in 
the schools of theology need to be brought up to a high 
grade. In a country where the death rate is appalling, 
where alcoholism and social vices abound, where the 
laboring classes live under bad sanitary conditions, the 
minister needs to have special social understanding that 
he may lead in the removal of such conditions. 

It is imperative that the churches shall furnish for their 
sons and daughters schools where the teaching and the 
teachers will aid in developing true Christian character. 
This work of the Church should, of course, welcome all 
others who desire to be under its influences. Schools, 
therefore, ought to be established in every community in 
connection with the Evangelical churches. 


REPORT FROM THE CHILE COMMISSION 19 


2. The Relation of the Churches to Community Life. 


Little, indeed, has been done in relating church organ- 
izations with organizations in the community. The 
church membership has been small and composed chiefly 
of the laboring classes which in general do not have time 
or the facilities for entering community organizations. 
The young men of the well-to-do class, or those who are 
employed, do not care to have laborers enter their organ- 
izations. Furthermore, such organizations are chiefly 
social or recreational in nature, such as foot-ball clubs, 
boxing clubs, philharmonic societies, social clubs, labor 
federations, and organizations of like character. The 
spirit and influence of some of these organizations are 
such that many of the church members who have entered 
them have been turned away from Christ. The labor 
federations have many members with strong socialistic 
tendencies, who are opposed to all religion. In some of 
the organizations the chief diversions seem to be danc- 
ing, gambling or wine drinking. With few exceptions 
they are indiffirent or openly antagonistic to religion. 
In view of these conditions pastors and members have 
been little disposed to have any affiliations with such 
organizations. 

As an adjunct to the work of such pastors one or 
more of the young women of each church should have 
special preparation for working socially, culturally, and 
spiritually among the young women of the church and 
community. Deaconess-nurses, properly trained and as- 
sociated with the pastors, would have an entrance into the 
homes of the community. 


3. The Church Studying Its Community. 


(a) The attitude of religious leaders—The older mis- 
sionary organizations which have been working in Chile 
are to a considerable extent awake to the importance of 
the social mission of the Church, its opportunity and its 
responsibility. They have a sympathetic interest in the 
movements which tend toward social betterment, but be- 
lieve that this betterment must come chiefly through the 
permeating of the social movements with the spirit of 


20 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


Christ. As to the best way of realizing this much desired 
end there has been no organized movement or well 
studied plan. 

(b) The attitude of the community in general to the 
Church—The liberal elements in Chile, which, until 
recently, had a large majority in the government, looked 
with high favor upon the Evangelical churches and E,van- 
gelical schools. The same was true of the educators, pro- 
fessional and business men. ‘They consider these churches | 
and schools as strong moral forces, working for the uplift 
of the country. 

There is, of course, a strong sectarian element in Chile 
which does not look with favor upon anything Evangel- 
ical. The more radical socialists and the I. W. W. ele- 
ment in the labor organizations are always hostile to any 
religious organization, looking upon it as an exploiter. 
The antagonism is partly due to a fear of the loss of 
partisans and prestige which may come from the labors 
of the Evangelical churches; and, in part, to entirely 
erroneous ideas concerning the teaching and work of the 
Evangelical churches. The remedy can come only by the 
dispelling of these erroneous ideas through good teaching 
and righteous living. 

(c) Community surveys——No cooperative surveys and 
but little individual work have been attempted, except 
what was done in connection with the Panama Congress 
and the later Regional Latin American Conferences. 
There seems hardly to be a call for other surveys at the 
present time in the actual development of the work of the 
churches. 


4. The Church Building a Community Program. 


(a) Its outstanding needs.—The outstanding needs are 
for greatly improved places of worship; a better prepared 
ministry and the training of colaborers; better educational 
facilities in Sunday-schools and day schools; better hous- 
ing and recreational playgrounds for the children; the 
teaching of mothers how to care for themselves and for 
their children, so as to lower the extremely high death 
rate; united efforts with the government and with all 
other agencies to rescue the people from alcoholism and 


REPORT FROM THE CHILE COMMISSION 21 


social vices; and first, last and always, the regeneration 
of individuals. 


(b) The value of tts various activities—The services 
of worship can, without doubt, be greatly improved. The 
missionary forces working together ought to be able to 
present to each community an Evangelical program which 
will reach and transform many persons. The visiting on 
the part of church members of members who are sick 
and the taking to them of money, delicacies, or things 
which may be needed; and the joining many together to 
labor on the different projects of the church, will foster a 
useful fellowship. The securing of adequate resources is 
a serious problem. Each church should have its own well 
organized financial plan, based on the principle that each 
member is a steward to administer, not his own, but that 
which God has placed in his hands, giving to the Lord 
for His work that which rightfully belongs to Him. 
When the Church renders valuable service to the public, 
uplifting the community by its moral influence, by the 
educational advantages which it offers and by its philan- 
thropic and charitable institutions, the community, when 
wisely solicited, will usually help to furnish the funds 
which will maintain the institutions which render such 
services. No church which renders a good service to the 
community ought to hesitate to ask for cooperation, for 
many persons are glad to give it. 


5. The Projection of a Community Program in Each Im- 
portant Center in South America. 


Such a program will develop in three stages of advance: 
(1) The churches should unitedly select a committee, 
made up of those who know the community and its needs, 
and have a fair idea of the resources which can be counted 
on, to prepare a well developed plan of community pro- 
jects. (2) The churches should then secure the approval 
of these plans by their missionary Boards, so far as they 
may call for the cooperation of those organizations. (3) 
Then the program should be presented to the congrega- 
tions and to the community in as attractive a way as 
possible. If a community sees that the churches are really 


22 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


planning to do something worth while, a cordial coopera- 
tion is sure to be given. 


IV. Tur Report FROM THE PERU COMMISSION. 


1. The Relation of the Church and the Community. 


The supreme end of the Church’s existence in the world 
is that through her agency the prayer of Christ, “ Thy 
Kingdom come,” may be realized. All admit that the goal 
of the divine purpose in the world, whether that goal be 
reached suddenly by a cataclysm, or gradually by the 
leavening of human sodiety with the gospel of Christ, is 
the establishment of an ideal order of human relation- 
ships. Such a goal can only be realized when two con- 
ditions are fulfilled: first, when the lives of men fulfil the 
divine ideal, and again, when the relations of men with 
their fellows fulfil the principle of Christ, “Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself.” In other words, the Chris- 
tian ideal includes both the redemption of individuals and 
the redemption of society. 

If either of these aspects of the Christian ideal is over- 
emphasized or neglected at the expense of the other, in- 
finite harm will result. To limit the Christian ideal to 
individual regeneration tends inevitably to individualism. 
No sharp sense of social obligation is felt. The Chris- 
tian is apt to regard human society as controlled by the 
devil rather than by God; and since he regards it as 
doomed to inevitable disaster, his attitude becomes one of 
absolute separation. Such a conception of the Christian 
ideal is, at the present time, more impossible than ever 
before, inasmuch as certain countries and a certain form 
of civilization are identified with Christianity in such a 
way that, if they fail to express the mind of Christ, the 
honor of Christ is tarnished in the eyes of countries and 
forms of civilization which members of the Christian 
Church are endeavoring to influence for Him. On the. 
other hand, to interpret the Christian ideal simply as the 
development of a form of social organization in which 
evil is reduced to a minimum, is equally inadequate and 
dangerous. We can imagine the inauguration of such an 
ideal form of society at any given point of time, but if it 


REPORT FROM THE PERU COMMISSION 23 


were based on anything less than redeemed lives, which 
were themselves microcosms of the new order, the latter 
would be of short duration. It might have the cold beauty 
and harmoniousness of a Greek statue, but would be un- 
able to perpetuate itself. In other words, the only guar- 
antee of permanency in social ideals consists in redeemed 
men and women who are the inspiring and self-producing 
causes of all the good that exists. 

(a) The ministry of the pulpit—Historically the voice 
of the pulpit has been one of the most potent in moulding 
the lives of men. It is so still in some countries; but in 
Peru, the pulpit is a spent force as regards moral and 
social influence in the community. In the most absolute 
sense ‘‘the oracles are dumb.” The prestige of the 
Roman Catholic Church in Peru puts her ministers in a 
unique position to mould men and society for God and 
His Kingdom; but alas, according to the opinions of the 
most impartial, no message is ever heard from the pulpit 
which discusses the deepest problems of individual life or 
social relationships. ‘The Evangelical churches in Peru 
are so insignificant and have so little prestige, that the 
voice of the Evangelical preacher rarely reverberates in 
the ears of the community as a whole, or even in the ears 
of a small section of that community. In Peru, and 
probably in South America as a whole, the public plat- 
form, without any of the accompaniments of worship, is 
destined in the coming years to be much more effective in 
influencing the community than the traditional pulpit, for 
the simple reason that the latter is taboo and little that is 
worth while can emanate from it, whether it be a Roman 
Catholic priest or an Evangelical pastor who speaks. The 
supreme need of the moment is for men to go out into 
the open and give to their fellows the message that Christ 
gave to them. 

(b) The church schools—tIn Peru there are in general 
three kinds of Evangelical schools, those for Indians, ele- 
mentary schools in Lima and the provinces for whites or 
‘mestizos,’ and secondary schools preparing students for 
university instruction. The Seventh Day Adventists have 
some seventy schools of the kind first mentioned around 
Lake Titicaca, and by means of these schools they have 


24 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


been able to transform the community life of thousands 
of the Indians of that region. Their program furnishes a 
fine illustration of school influence upon community life. 

(c) The solution of community problems—The Evan- 
gelical Church in Peru has directly contributed to the 
solution of community problems along two main lines: 
(1) The Evangelical Union of South America owns a 
large farm in the vicinity of Cuzco in Southern Peru, 
strategically placed in a part of the country thickly popu- 
lated by Indians. In addition to contributing to agricul- 
tural progress, not only in that particular region but in 
the country as a whole, the farm in question has exerted 
a profound influence upon the lives of innumerable 
Indians. Large numbers of these have received instruc- 
tion in the elementary principles of successful farming, 
have been taught the elements of education and the evils 
of alcohol and the coca habit, and above all, have heard 
the story of the gospel of God’s love. 

Attached to the farm is a small orphanage and also a 
hospital. The work of the latter has been greatly handi- 
capped, owing to the fact that it has been impossible for a 
missionary doctor to obtain the required license to prac- 
tice in the country. The success of this farm makes it 
clear that the real solution of the vexed Indian problem 
in Peru lies in the organization of similar enterprises. 

(2) Several Missions in Peru have developed medical 
work. In Cuzco and Arequipa the work of consecrated 
Christian nurses has been one of the principal factors in 
breaking down opposition to the gospel and in opening the 
way for the entrance of the Evangelical message to hearts 
and homes. Some years ago a public-spirited doctor in 
Lima who had a real respect for the Evangelical move- 
ment arranged with the head of one of the Missions for 
the coming of a number of trained nurses to take charge 
of some of the leading hospitals in the city and to found a 
school for the training of Peruvian nurses. For a number 
of years this school functioned with the greatest success ; 
it seemed as if through its instrumentality the whole sys- 
tem of nursing in the country was to be transformed; but, 
unfortunately, ecclesiastical influence became too strong, 
and the work was broken up. In Cajamarca in Northern 


REPORT FROM THE PERU COMMISSION 25 


Peru, and in Moyobamba in the far interior, Evangelical 
nurses are also at work. 

In addition to these direct efforts at community service, 
individual members of the Evangelical churches have done 
much to promote the movements for temperance and 
social hygiene in the country. It may be said that, es- 
pecially in the case of the National Temperance Society 
of Peru, its most active and dynamic members have be- 
longed to Evangelical congregations. The League of 
Social Hygiene, which was founded last year, originated 
through the efforts of a traveling secretary of the Temper- 
ance Department of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 


2. The Church Studying Its Community. 

(a) The attitude of religious leaders——The Evangel- 
ical forces in Peru are divided into two main groups: 
(a) those who believe that the Kingdom of God will be 
inaugurated suddenly by the supernatural appearance and 
intervention of Jesus Christ Himself, and (b) those who 
believe that the Kingdom will come and the millennium 
dawn through the gradual leavening of human society by 
the gospel of Christ. Then, too, the Evangelical congre- 
gations in Peru are composed of people who occupy a 
more or less humble position in the community, who, 
consequently, do not possess the necessary resources to 
initiate such forms of social service as are common in 
other places. 

(b) The attitude of the communtiy leaders—In every 
large community there are two groups of religious inter- 
ests: those related to the Roman Catholic Church, and 
those which relate to the Evangelical churches. It is very 
difficult to ascertain the genuine attitude of public men 
towards the Roman Catholic Church. It can, however, 
be said that very many government officials, business and 
professional men are upholders of the Roman Church; 
some from conviction, some for sentimental reasons, some 
for social and domestic reasons, and some as a matter of 
policy. Of lay educators the majority are probably op- 
posed to the Church. This is also true of organized labor 
and of the majority of students. 

On the other hand, to the vast majority of public men, 


26 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


workmen and others in Peru the Evangelical church exists 
only in the fringe of consciousness. ‘To the greater num- 
ber of people in Lima the fact that there is an Evangelical 
community in their midst is practically unknown. 

(c) A community survey.—So far, community surveys 
have been practically unknown in Lima. The only sta- 
tistical survey that has ever been made dealt with the rela- 
tion between infant mortality and housing conditions. 
The chief problems before the Evangelical Church as 
such, as regards community surveys, is to ensure that 
those who are connected with the several Evangelical 
churches should themselves realize the importance of 
some of the elementary laws of right living. 


3. Building the Church’s Community Program. 


(a) Outstanding necds——Some of the needs of the com- 
munity to which the Church in Peru should address itself 
are these: temperance, reform, social purity, child welfare, 
district nursing, and popular education, especially of the 
Indians. 

(b) The services of eenship —In the majority of cases 
the several parts of a typical Evangelical service in Peru 
do not contribute to an intelligent devotion to the ideals of 
the Kingdom. The sermons do not deal sufficiently with 
living and vital problems. They are generally hackneyed 
as to material and stereotyped in form. One of the crying 
needs of the hour is the revision of the hymnbook used 
in most Evangelical churches in Peru. 

(c) An evangelistic program.—There is a large place 
for an Ewangelical program in which preaching would 
have the chief place, and which, if necessary, suppressed 
all the elements of the “ culto.” 

(d) Social programs.—The Evangelical Church in Peru 
is not at present in a position to carry on social or phys- 
ical training activities to any extent. ‘There is, however, 
a need for evening classes in which instruction in religion 
and general subjects can be given. 


V. THE REPoRT FROM THE CoLOMBIA CoMMISSION. 
1. The Church in the Community. 
Human relationships need to be redeemed in Colombia, 


REPORT FROM COLOMBIA COMMISSION 27 


where a large proportion of the common people live out 
of wedlock. In some cases, this is because the persons 
live away from the centers and it 1s not easy to be mar- 
ried; again, it is because they have not been taught that it 
is wrong; and, in some cases, it is because the persons do 
not wish to be married. 

(a) The ministry of the pulpit—Through the pulpit a 
community can be stirred. Colombians are especially 
glad to hear good preaching in their own tongue. They 
appreciate any foreigner who has a good command of 
the language, but, even better, like to hear their own 
people speak. 

One of the great needs of the church is to train up men 
of spiritual capacity who are also good speakers. 

(b) Organizations which reach the community.—There 
is a great need of definite organizations which shall have 
a close relation to the community organizations, but as yet 
very little has been done along this line in Colombia. In 
nearly every Evangelical center the church members do 
something to help care for the sick and aged. But there 
is a great need for an orphanage, for day nursery work 
and for clinic work. In one of the small towns, not long 
since, the mother of a family of small children died. The 
father was in prison, and the children had to go to the 
prison to sleep with their father at night. Yet there has 
never been any move to start an Evangelical orphanage 
in Colombia. 

The attitude of the pastors is friendly toward the social 
mission of the Church. One pastor is quite a physician 
for his community, often restoring to health those who 
have been very sick, there being no physician in that com- 
munity. The community built a residence for him, which 
he made a community center. 

The government officials generously protect Evangel- 
icals, but in many parts they give no more recognition than 
they are obliged to give. The civil law allows marriages 
to take place, but in certain places the judge who carries 
out that law loses his position. 


2. The Relation of the Churches to Community Life. 
(a) Attitude of officials—Some officials have been 


28 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


ready to protect the sale of the Bible. Others have to be 
importuned for weeks, before they will give the needed 
protection. 

(b) Attitude of educators—The Colombian educators 
are in the main indifferent outwardly, for they dare not 
show any friendliness for fear of the hierarchy. The 
teachers must be Roman Catholics, at least outwardly ; 
they must submit to the forms of the Church. 

(c) Attitude of business and professional men.—Or- 
ganized labor is only in its beginnings in Colombia. It is 
strongly sympathetic in regard to our work, but not 
actively interested. 

(d) The explanation of these attitudes—The attitude 
of these different classes is explained by the fact that the 
whole country of Colombia is largely under the domin- 
ion of the Roman Catholic Church, although certain parts 
of the country now show a breaking away from that 
influence. 

(e) Their improvement—tThese conditions are being 
improved. The reading of the Bible is having its effect. 
Visits, such as that made by Dr. W. E. Browning and 
Mr. W. R. Wheeler, cannot fail to improve relations ; and, 
if prominent men who speak the Spanish fluently could 
give lectures, it would, without doubt, have a liberalizing 
influence on the whole community. The consistent, pure 
lives of those who are Protestants help a great deal. 
When the work in Dabeiba was still in its beginnings, a 
business man from another district who was in Dabeiba 
for a holiday, noted that certain business men watched the 
patriotic procession, but that they did not go afterwards 
to the saloons, nor were they present at the cock fights. 
He marvelled and asked why. He was sent to one of the 
leaders, whom he found reading his Bible. When he 
explained why he took no part in such things, the ques- 
tioner bought a Bible and began to study for himself. 
He changed his own life and taught his family, so that 
when the missionary next visited that region, he found a 
little group waiting for him there. Another part of the 
work which improved the feeling toward the church is 
the clinical and baby welfare work that is conducted in 
two parts of Colombia. 


REPORT OF RIVER PLATE COMMISSION 29 


No uses have been made of community surveys in 
Colombia... It would be extremely interesting if some sur- 
vey could be planned and carried out. 


3. Building the Community Program. 

(a) Its outstanding needs.—The outstanding needs of 
the community to which the church in Colombia ministers 
are many. ‘The first and greatest need, of course, is their 
need of Christ. 

Even the most sincere Christians, when insufficiently 
trained, seem to have very little idea of true morality. 

Better conditions for women and children. A very 
large proportion of the babies and small children die. 
The poor cannot obtain proper food for the little ones, nor 
do they know how to care for them. Think of feeding 
dried beans to babies of nine months, yet that is the com- 
mon diet of thousands of little children, the beans not even 
being mashed. The women need to be trained for mother- 
hood and the children need proper food and care. 

Warfare on liquor and tobacco. The church needs to 
do more to destroy the liquor traffic and to lessen the use 
of tobacco. During the first years of the Protestant 
Church in Colombia, some of the members had to be re- 
claimed again and again. Even of late years some of 
those who have once been members have gone back 
through drink. Nearly every child is taught to smoke 
at an early age. 


4. Enrichment of Worship. 

Many people receive their first desire for better lives 
from the services of worship. Hymns, well sung, attract 
attention ; and in the small towns the people often impro- 
vise music to words in the hymnal. A group of young 
ladies sang hymns a number of times in the Children’s 
- Hospital in Bogota and all, including the Sisters of Char- 
ity, were greatly pleased. 


VI. Tue Report oF THE RIvER PLATE CoMMISSION, 

This Commission included Presbyterian and Wesleyan 
clergymen, Association secretaries and an engineer mem- 
ber of the Church of England as chairman. It included 
a wide range of experience and age. 


380 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


At the commencement of its work, the Commission was 
furnished with a copy of the Brazilian section of the 
report. Broadly speaking, each member affirmed his 
adhesion to the conclusions reached therein. ‘The con- 
tribution from the River Plate region may seem more 
pessimistic in respect to the permanent results to be ex- 
pected from Evangelical work in that region, if present 
methods are to continue. 

The Commission has drawn on contributions from 
many nationalities and classes, including university pro- 
fessors and students. 


1. The Goal of the Church, 


The establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth is 
not very strongly taught or preached by the Evangelical 
churches in general, for that concept of a “ Kingdom ” is 
social and collective in its suggestiveness, while the schools 
of teaching that are most active in these countries turn 
their attention rather to the individual. 

That this must be so is logically deductible from the 
“fruits,” for there is no record of anything approaching 
a community survey in Argentine religious life. Hence 
teaching and preaching along social lines must have been 
either significantly non-effective, or practically non- 
existent, most probably the latter. The great educational 
work of the Morris Schools in Buenos Aires gathered in- 
creasing success from the moment that they became defi- 
nitely philanthropic in their appeal for contributions. 
With the vast majority it is the humanistic, rather than 
the religious chord that vibrates in response to the appeal. 
Those who declare that Latin Americans “are just sick 
of theology ” mean, at the bottom of their hearts, that the 
doctrinnaire preachers know nothing about the “ King- 
dom ” doctrine. 


2. Some of the Problems It Faces. 

The use of alcohol. Attention might well be drawn 
to the disastrous effects which in the upper provinces 
of the Argentine Republic have attended the retailing 
of alcohol in the form of highly rectified spirits. For- 
merly these were obtainable only in considerable quan- 


REPORT OF RIVER PLATE COMMISSION 31 


tities, but now they are within reach of the most insig- 
nificant traders. 

Except amongst the laborers in the sugar plantations 
alcoholism does not, in Argentina and Uruguay, constitute 
so distressing a problem as in many other lands. The 
children who attend public schools grow into men who are 
little addicted to that vice. This is largely due to the 
excellence of the school teaching on temperance. ‘The 
churches as a whole have not formed any collective con- 
science in respect to the use of alcohol, although the mis- 
sionaries may come pledged to abstinence. 

Gambling. Here is touched a very dark spot in River 
Plate sociology. It is one of the practises in which many 
Protestant churches show up better than the Roman Cath- 
olic Church, which not only does not discourage gambling, 
but at times actively promotes it, both in lotteries and 
racing. In the terrible evil of state lotteries her only 
complaint is in respect to what she considers the meagre- 
ness of her share of the plunder by a wrong division of 
the profits. Yet the criminal courts are constantly attest- 
ing that the terrible factor of juvenile delinquency is 
mainly attributable to petty larceny with the object of 
buying lottery tickets. None of the churches take any 
clear, definite stand against the evil. Members of Evan- 
gelical congregations not infrequently buy tickets in the 
lotteries. 

Illiteracy. Argentina and Uruguay still have hosts of 
illiterates, but the subject is amply treated in the report on 
Education. Here it may be remarked that no Church 
fails to urge the need to end the evil. 

Child Welfare and Personal and Domestic Hygiene. 
The Roman Catholic Church does a great work in all 
that refers to this. As fast as taxation resources allow, 
country towns are drained and sewered, and the hygienic 
standards are far higher than those prevailing amongst 
most European nations in country towns. 

Civic Responsibility. It will be a great day when 
English speaking churches shall set an example to native 
Evangelical congregations in the matter of civic responsi- 
bility. It may be said that a man who lends no hand to 
improve civic conditions for himself and for his neighbor 


82 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


has a right to grumble about a low standard of com- 
munity life. Municipal franchises are equal for all, for- 
eigner or native, without any sort of discrimination. 

Prostitution. Commercialized and regulated prostitu- 
tion is one of the greatest social evils of these countries. 
There is an extraordinary development to be registered. 
Whereas, formerly, the great bulk of the girl victims came 
from Europe, principally from Pommerania and Poland, 
today they are natives of these countries. Some sociolog- 
ical students attribute this fact to the prurience and sexual 
suggestiveness of the American film pictures. Films not 
permitted on public exhibitions in the United States are 
shown freely in this region. Through a very simple ruse, 
municipal approval is secured, and before a cumbrous 
legal machinery can be brought into action, the film has 
secured its profit and changed its “local” of exhibition. 
The Salvation Army has fought the cause of morality 
with much persistence, but has found little support. It is 
a matter which the League of Nations might well study 
as an auxiliary to its duties in connection with the White 
Slave trade. 


3. The Church Studying Its Community. 

No survey of social community needs has ever been 
made in the River Plate Republics. We agree to the 
Brazilian finding that to people in the lowest social cir- 
cumstances, becoming a Christian works a miracle in 
many respects. ‘The Spanish speaking Methodist com- 
munity in Argentina consists of people who are anything 
but richly endowed with goods of this world. It pro- 
moted an Orphanage at Mercedes for seventy boys. But 
it turned out that the Church itself did not need it. Now 
the Supreme Court of the Nation has recognized the 
Mercedes Orphanage to be effectively equipped and in 
every way adequate to receive waifs and strays for whom 
the Ministry of Justice needs to find a home. 

(a) The attttude of Christian leaders—lIt cannot be 
pretended that in these countries any strongly pronounced 
Christian attitude, definitely sympathetic towards social 
community work, has as yet been adopted. Some synod 
and conference meetings have passed resolutions of 


REPORT OF RIVER PLATE COMMISSION 33 


sympathy with the creed of the churches as adopted by 
the Federal Council of Churches of the United States 
and Canada, but in the main they have amounted to little 
more than platonic declarations. Nothing particular has 
happened. 

It is experience that in such hospitals and nursing 
homes as are administered by nuns and priests, particu- 
larly those which are inland, the non-Roman patient has 
to endure much annoyance and minor persecution. The 
day has passed when a Protestant as such is refused ad- 
mission and major treatment. 

(b) The attitude of the community.—Possibly two per 
cent of the mass of population in the River Plate repub- 
lics 1s reached by all the churches taken together in a way 
which actually touches their lives. Allowing that there be 
1,600,000 families, and two million children, a five per 
cent. influence would require that there be 100,000 chil- 
dren in receipt of definite Christian teaching in connection 
with some church association. ‘Those under Protestant 
influences are possibly 12,000, and they certainly aggre- 
gate more than one-eighth of the whole. In country dis- 
tricts, and over very large areas, not more than ten per 
cent of the children are even baptized into the Church, and 
the marriage factor (even of civil marriage) is very low. 
The authorities at Rome are under no illusion as to the 
conditions that prevail, but are in no situation to assist; 
for it is perfectly well known that they have no reserve 
of teaching staff on which to draw, except the product of 
the seminaries of Spain. The standard of education of 
these is itself so low that their help is practically valueless. 

Under such circumstances one is tempted to think that 
the Church authorities, which decide that their organiza- 
tion should not work in Latin America in the Spanish 
tongue, because such action might savour of proselytizing, 
are insufficiently informed in respect to the conditions 
which really prevail in these countries. 

Hardly less difficult to understand is the mental attitude 
of those clergy of the free churches who feel so embar- 
rassed by the criticism launched at themselves and their 
work by the Roman Catholic workers. Sufficient reply to 
such criticism lies in the indication of the great mass of 


84 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


unclaimed population, rapidly lapsing into a virile pagan- 
ism, whose care would seem to be accounted to no one’s 
charge,—a sufficient field for the vigorous efforts of many 
multiples of the existing workers of all schools combined. 
Government officials do not oppose Evangelical work 
in their official capacity, whatsoever they may do pri- 
vately. In every cause that comes to its attention, official- 
dom endeavors to appraise “ fruits,” and finding them 
desirable, considers they can only be the product of the 
right type of vine. The Argentine Government National 
Railways concede half, passages to workers of non-Roman 
churches, exactly as to the Roman Catholics themselves. 
(c) The attitude of organized labor.—Organized labor 
in the shape of trade unions is definitely antagonistic to 
religious work in every shape. On the other hand, a new 
political party, the “ Union Popular,” is endeavoring to 
organize the more intelligent elements amongst labor 
groups. During the past two years the Union has ren- 
dered welcome service in an unobtrusive manner, by 
speaking against unjustifiable strikes, while seeking to 
bring opposing interests and leaders together. In these 
movements the Evangelical churches cut no figure. They 
have developed no native sociologist capable of measuring 
the economics, psychics, or ethics of the matter at issue. 
(d) The Association’s experiment—The Young Men’s 
Christian Association has recently started an educational 
movement to develop leaders. Starting with young men 
with the B. A. degree, it has organized a four years’ 
course of intensive study in science and humanities. 
An efficiency certificate at the end of the course will 
be required of every candidate for the Association 
secretaryship. | 
The efficiency of pastors would eventually benefit were 
the students at the seminaries affiliated with the Y. M. 
C, A. and Y. W. C. A. A pastor who was also a com- 
petent drill instructor and a chess player, would soon find 
his contacts with young life enormously increased—still 
more so if his wife were a worker in the Y. W. C. A. 
Probably no young couple ever took possession of so 
unpromising a proposition as did Mr. and Mrs. S. A. 
Barnett when they were assigned to St. Jude’s White- 


? 


REPORT OF RIVER PLATE COMMISSION 385 


chapel, London. A parish of eight thousand souls, a net 
work of vile courts and alleys, dens of doss houses and 
brothels, a humanity in whom it was hard to see “the 
likeness of the Divine.” In the midst of it all stood St. 
Jude’s Church and schools, both empty and unused. How 
such a centre was transformed into a great sun of spir- 
itual life, inspiring scores of Settlements in England and 
in America; how Toynbee Hall was founded with its 
classes for instruction, in which 134 subjects were studied 
by over 200 adult working class pupils; how the slums 
round about were purchased and rebuilt as decent living 
homes for self-respecting people (all on a sole capital of 
a precious family heirloom, Mrs. Barnett’s pearl necklace, 
which she sold for the purpose) ; how the prostitute girls 
were weaned to a new conception of life; are not all these 
things written, and a thousand others, in those two mar- 
velous volumes, “Canon Barnett, His Life, Work, and 
Friends”? We suggest that the Montevideo conference 
should arrange for the translation of that work into 
Spanish and Portuguese. 


4. Building the Church’s Community Program. 

The River Plate Commission would put a rather 
stronger emphasis, than does the Commission in Brazil, 
on the desirability of a survey undertaken by the Young 
Men’s Christian Association in connection with the 
Bureau of Special Survey. People qualified to make such 
investigations are very rare in these communities. But 
the coordination of the data collected by the Association 
would be carried out by those experienced in such work, 
and its dissemination thence to interested parties would 
arouse no antagonisms. 

(a) Church actwities and community needs-—In the 
sense in which the word “ Kingdom” is employed in the 
questionnaire, we cannot truthfully say that the average 
preaching in the Spanish-speaking E;vangelical churches 
gives the Kingdom idea a central place in the Christian 
platform, although, of course, it is given expression. Nor 
is such teaching at all characteristic of the Roman Catholic 
pulpit in these countries. 

One of the greatest needs is a hymnal of lyrics 


86 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


written by Spaniards. Early Christianity, the days of 
the Reformation, and the Wesley movement in England, 
were accompanied by very cloudbursts of lyrical writing. 
Spanish evangelicalism so far has not produced original 
hymns, while the renditions into Spanish from other 
tongues are often unpoetic and mechanical. Truly Latin 
Evangelicals should pray for the gifts of poesy. 

(b) The evangelistic program—Union effort in com- 
munity evangelization demands not only a better educated 
leadership among the national pastorates, but more en- 
lightened congregations. It is easy to have a narrow 
range of vision. Patience, persistence and education are 
our remedies. Protestantism in Europe and North 
America and the Roman Church are far from being 
models as yet in regard to harmony or unity of Christian 
expression. 

The reports from various portions of our field would 
seem to justify the Commission in declaring that much of 
the work of the various Evangelical organizations now 
laboring here is far from successful. 

In an earlier section of this report is stressed the im- 
portance of work amongst children. It is true that no 
permanently efficient evangelistic work will be built up in 
these countries, unless it recognizes and fosters the sense 
of wonder, awe and reverence in the child mind. 

Considering the youth of Latin America at the moment 
of its most generous impulses, the stage of initiation into 
college life, how are such to be drawn into association 
with any type of church activity! Hailing from homes 
which, in the great majority of instances, any sort of 
religious interest is held to be little worthy of the thought 
of an up-to-date man, or, in the best of cases, as apper- 
taining to woman’s sphere, and instructed through school 
life to standardize morality in terms of decency and 
safety, but in no sense to relate it to Christian ethics, he 
becomes as a finished product a polished gentleman indeed, 
but one certainly far below the standard for definiteness 
in theism of a good Jewish or Mohammedan student. In 
an up-to-date country town of 15,000 people only 300 
children all told receive any sort of Sunday-school teach- 
ing. The Christian Bible, regarded chiefly as a curious 


REPORT OF RIVER PLATE COMMISSION 387 


survival from ancient folk lore, would hardly come to a 
youth’s notice as an eternally stable exposition of a final 
standard for character development. 

How shall such a youth be drawn into any service 
in which the Christian Church is dominant or even 
prominent? 

The right kind of teaching will have much influence 
here. During 1922-23 a series of lectures was given at 
the Young Men’s Christian Association chiefly ranging 
round the thought of St. Paul and Tolstoy. They were 
attentively listened to by a group of young men, no one of 
whom would willingly enter the church. Recently one of 
these young men presented himself and said in substance: 
“Recently I inherited some family fortune. I have pur- 
chased such a property. It is at the disposal of 
social work concerned in the reclamation of waifs and 
strays. The contract shall be for five years free of rent, 
with option at expiration for renewal at like terms.” 
This very handsome donation, which admits housing some 
thirty boys under the most advantageous circumstances, 
by no means set the bounds to his liberality. This youth 
knew absolutely nothing about rites or rituals, but he does 
understand social service, as Rauschenbusch found it in 
St. Paul’s teaching. 

Will the society of these Latin American countries, 
where the races are in a crucible, respond to our call and 
accept Evangelical Christianity? So far as the adult 
generation is concerned, probably not. But a form of 
education is being devised and will shortly call for in- 
tensive multiplication, that will reach the hearts of multi- 
tudes of adolescents. The Cross of sacrifice, without 
which no Christianity can be built, will be found in the 
promotion of religious organizations which will struggle 
for the implantation in Latin America of an industrial 
system planned to avoid the errors which characterize 
that of the old world; for an organized industry, working 
cooperatively instead of competitively. Thus we shall be 
able to prove that the religious temperament can always 
yield the richest of fruits.in all spheres of human activity. 

(c) The enrichment of worship—The enrichment of 
worship not only cultivates a spirit of catholicity, but con- 





88 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


tributes to it. Such a temperament rejoices to summon to 
its aid in worship all likeminded souls from all countries, 
creeds and periods of time. Jesus of Nazareth had a 
loving mind toward all nobleness and looked for it every- 
where. His worship might well draw upon all whose 
thinking constitutes the real accumulated treasure of 
humanity. 

Equal is the case in regard to the text of prayers. The 
compilation of prayer through the ages, recently made by 
Senor Julio Navarro Monzo, yields abundant proof of the 
reward that attends diligent search by a reverent and 
sympathetic spirit. 

In Evangelical Latin America, where the democratic 
spirit holds, even if it does not always exercise full sway 
over methods, it is much easier for the churches to be 
responsive to such enrichment than where they are 
subordinated to the inelastic rule of a time-honored ritual. 
Consultations between the pastors and the more gifted of 
their congregations, should render the exercise of worship 
enrichment relatively easy, provided the pastor’s spirit be 
not cribb’d, cabin’d, and confin’d by a tradition which 
kills initiative. 

The active cooperation of the congregation is most im- 
portant towards success in securing helpful meetings. 
Responsive readings from the Psalter should be utilized. 
The more exalted of the Psalms may be chanted, using 
for preference the old Gregorian tones, the pointing of 
which lends itself particularly to the Spanish language. 
Congregational litanies are most useful. There is a 
modern litany which puts its emphasis on the needs and 
trials of today, which has been exquisitely translated into 
Spanish by Senor J. Navarro Monzo. 

As to the sermon, is there any valid reason why a man 
who is not gifted as a preacher should use only sermons 
of his own composition? Why should such an one not 
be free to read some of the great sermons which have 
become a part of literature? Such a process would favor 
his own soul culture, while the congregations would be 
proportionately better instructed. It should not be sup- 
posed that one who is worthy of ordination to serve as a 
pastor is for that reason a natural preacher. 


REPORT FROM VENEZUELAN COMMISSION 39 


(d) Church buildings—The consensus of opinion is 
absolute. From all sides of the country, all schools of 
thought, there is expression of one single judgment. No 
more tin buildings that might well serve as stables, no 
more disused grocery stores. The age of catacomb 
refugees has passed, and the place of worship must ex- 
press its object, and be worthy of the cause. The style 
must be ecclesiastical, the building must have good acous- 
tic properties, the minister must be visible to all, the 
preacher must be heard. The building should be well 
ventilated, without creating draughts; in the winter time 
it should be adequately warmed. Further in sub-tropical 
and warm-temperate zones, extremes of heat and cold 
must be provided against. 

How can there be combined the ecclesiastical style 
proper to the house of Christian worship, and one that 
will equally satisfy the exigencies of the building science? 
One who travels to an Eastern Arabic town can pick out 
the mosque without referring to a guide book, for it is the 
architecture of the home, yet glorified, every feature of 
stonecraft, joinery, glasswork, elaborated a trifle more 
than similar accessories in the house of a social magnate, 
or in a building of public utility. Arabic social thought 
still adheres to a style in building, and the best is conse- 
crated to worship. 


VII. Tue REporT FROM THE VENEZUELAN 
ComMMISSION. 


1. The Church in the Community. 


The Evangelical churches in Venezuela are as yet in a 
position that at once reveals enormous difficulties and 
unfolds great possibilities and opportunities. The com- 
munities are as yet predominantly Roman Catholic all 
over the Republic. During the few years that evangel- 
istic work has been done in Venezuela, the Roman Cath- 
olic clergy has done everything to prejudice the people 
against the Evangelical churches. This work has been in 
the form of a constant program, by means of the press, 
the pulpit, the confessional and personal work. The 
agencies are overwhelmingly abundant, and the results 


40 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


have been in the most places a settled hostility toward 
the activities of the Evangelicals. 

On the other hand, the agents of the Evangelical 
churches have been so comparatively few and the agen- 
cies and means at their disposal so scant, that such results 
as appear can only be attributed to the wonderful power 
of God working through these humble agencies. 

(a) The goal——Though the ultimate goal of the Church 
is the perfect establishment of the Kingdom of God on 
earth, it is necessary to keep in mind that this is to be 
accomplished through the regeneration of individual lives, 
without which no community can be permanently in- 
fluenced by the church. When this is accomplished, 
human relationships also change, and a powerful in- 
fluence is felt everywhere. 

(b) The agenctes—(1) The Bible. The Scriptures 
are, beyond doubt, the most powerful agency in the hands 
of the church for influencing the community, and they 
have been very profusely circulated in Venezuela, having 
reached as much as 56,000 copies, including the Testa- 
ments and portions, in one year. 

(2) The pulpit. This agency has as yet in Venezuela 
had but a very small influence on the community. There 
is perhaps no place where as much as one per cent. of the 
community gets within reach of the pulpit on Sunday. 
In a few instances large crowds have been attracted to 
special meetings. To make a better and more extensive 
use of this agency will be part of the future program of 
the churches. 

(3) The church school. ‘This agency has as yet barely 
touched the community as a whole. Nearly all the Evan- 
gelical schools are very small. There is only one school 
(Maracaibo) which has more than fifty pupils. Only a 
very small percentage of the pupils come from families 
not belonging to the churches. If the church schools can 
be improved and kept up to a standard that will command 
respect and attention, their influence on the community 
will soon greatly increase, provided that a strong spiritual 
influence, through the conversation, teaching and example 
of the teachers and the pupils from Evangelical families, 
is kept predominant. This direct influence will greatly 


REPORT FROM VENEZUELAN COMMISSION 41 


increase as soon as these schools have had time to send 
out into the community some of the pupils who have been 
trained in these institutions. The Sunday-schools, al- 
though comparatively small, are well organized and are 
doing a very good work. Practically all of the children 
of the church families attend regularly and many children 
from other homes also attend. Several of the churches 
conduct schools in sections where there are no church 
members and although there is much persecution there is 
considerable interest shown in them. ‘There are twenty- 
seven schools with over 1,100 members enrolled, the 
largest have 116 pupils. 

(4) Church organizations. Most of the churches, 
being still in their infancy, very few special organizations 
have as yet been set to work. Christian Endeavor Socie- 
ties have been at work in some of the churches for some 
time and have been a good help. A few Evangelical 
Leagues have also been organized, doing good work. 
Barely a beginning has been made in organizing Ladies’ 
Aid Societies. Just now a movement is under way to 
organize Evangelical Leagues in communities where there 
are no organized churches and no regular pastor. 

Of other indirect social enterprises almost none have 
been undertaken. A Liga Anti-Alcoholica was organized 
some years ago in Maracaibo, largely influenced by the 
Evangelical church there, and the largest and most influ- 
ential of the Evangelical papers, La Estrella de la Manana 
of Maracaibo, has for years carried on a very attractive 
propaganda against the liquor evil. This propaganda has 
at least drawn the attention of the community, has been 
widely copied by the secular press and has been favorably 
commented on by influential persons. Societies for 
founding small libraries have also been attempted in a few 
places; and if this work were pushed with more vigor, it 
would give splendid opportunities for influencing a larger 
part of the community. 


2. The Church Studying Its Community. 

(a) The social mission of the churches has barely been 
touched or considered in the Evangelical work in Vene- 
zuela, since the churches have not had the means or the 


42 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


force to take care of the direct evangelical work. Very 
few, if any, of the missionaries, pastors or church mem- 
bers would be favorably disposed at present to give much 
thought to any direct social work, except what would 
prove an effective means in bringing more people directly 
under the influence of the gospel. 

(b) The attitude of the common people tn general 
would tend to be favorable toward Evangelical work, were 
it not for the constant propaganda of the Roman clergy. 
The majority of government officials have proved favor-. 
ably disposed toward the Evangelical churches, in spite 
of the fact that certain fanatics do all in their power to 
create prejudice against the missionaries. Many edu- 
cators recognize the value of the work of the Evangelical 
church. Business and professional leaders are also in 
many cases friendly disposed, but most of them fear that 
their business would suffer, if they should more openly 
favor the Evangelicals. 

(c) Their attitude; how twmproved?—Chiefly by per- 
sonal touch with individuals, and by carefully devising 
means of giving them first hand knowledge of what the 
churches are really doing. 

(d) Community surveys—So far almost no use has 
been made of these. It would be an interesting experi- 
ment to have a church thoroughly survey and tabulate all 
the families and individuals of its territory. The work 
might be done largely through the members. It should 
then be followed up by systematic visitation at regular 
intervals, noting the changes of attitude and the signs of 
the entrance of the gospel into hearts. This would give 
the church a chance to really know its territory and its 
people, would take the members out of their isolated 
position in the community, and would increase materially 
their interest in the people as a whole. 


VIII. Tur Cuurcu AND PusLic OPINION. 


In all such problems as those considered in this report, 
it is well to keep in mind always the effects which church 
work is making on what may be called the general thought 
or the public opinion of a community. This public opin- 
ion may be all the more effective in shaping the conditions 


THE CHURCH AND PUBLIC OPINION 43 


under which a church does its work from the very fact 
that it is not openly expressed. It is like the atmosphere 
which effectively controls and determines the growth of 
organisms without at any particular moment creating a 
situation which is spectacular. 


1. The Influence of Suitable Buildings. 

One such influence in determining the general opinion 
of a community is the type of building in which a church 
worships. The location of the building may be such that 
very few people see it, or the building itself may be of 
such an architectural style that it runs counter to the tastes 
or standards of the community, or the building may be so 
restricted in its proportions or so poorly kept up, that it 
gives a bad impression to all passers by. Of course, no 
one favors the expenditure of missionary funds just for 
the sake of making an impression on the community. 
Sometimes church leaders have asked for large sums of 
money to be used in buildings in Oriental lands, but we 
would not favor this for Latin America, where money 
enough has already been spent on building enterprises by 
the Roman Catholic Church. Still there is no reason 
why a building should not be such as to make a favorable 
impression, or at least to prevent an unfavorable impres- 
sion, no matter how limited the means of the contributors. 


2. The Influence of National Adaptation. 


The second influence in shaping the sentiment of a com- 
munity is the power of the missionary to free himself 
from all prepossessions favorable to his own type of na- 
tional life or culture. There has been, in the past few 
years, a very general recognition of the truth that Chris- 
tianity in the United States, for example, is not to be 
identified too closely with the social institutions of the 
United States. Elsewhere in this report attention has 
been called to the threat of North American economic 
imperialism against the independence of Latin American 
peoples. It would be a hard task to identify capitalism in 
the United States with anything resembling essential 
Christianity. So with other forms of social organization. 
The social institutions of the United States are as good 


44 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


and no better for their purpose than are the social insti- 
tutions of Latin America for the purpose of Latin Amer- 
ica. Of course, both in the United States and in Latin 
America the chief aim should be to set great human values 
on high as the ends toward which all institutional instru- 
ments should work. ‘The missionary should not feel 
called upon to stand as a propagandist for the institutions 
of his own country, except where there is clearly a human 
value better reached through that institution. It is to be 
expected that missionaries going from one country to an- 
other will adapt themselves to the point of view of the 
peoples among whom they work. Phillips Brooks once 
said, of the duty of Christianity toward Japan, that it is 
the business of the Church to take Christ to Japan and 
leave Him there, allowing the Japanese to make their own 
institutional adjustments to the Christ Spirit. 

This leads to a further reflection, namely, that with the 
Latin American peoples coming to a new national and 
racial sensitiveness the wise worker from abroad will sub- 
stitute the idea of a fatherly contact with the people by 
that of a brotherly contact with them. In dealing with 
so-called backward peoples, such as those of Africa, it 
may be permissible for the missionary to assume a 
fatherly attitude toward those committed to his care. 
Such an attitude, however, will work untold harm in a 
Latin American community by prejudicing the general 
sentiment of the community against the work of the 
church. The missionary must not be deceived at this 
point. He may gather around himself a group of persons 
who look to him for the solution of all their difficulties, 
but he would thus make it impossible for his church to 
exert a positive influence for good upon the public opinion 
in the midst of which he has to live. 


IX. Tuer INpDIVIDUAL, GOSPEL AND THE SOCIAL GOSPEL. 


Hardly any theme in religious discussion today is more 
confused and confusing than the contrasting of claims of 
the so-called individual and of the so-called social gospel. 
On the one hand, we have Christian workers declaiming 
that the old-time individualistic gospel is out-of-date, that 
after nineteen centuries of such a gospel the world is 


INDIVIDUAL GOSPEL AND SOCIAL GOSPEL 465 


almost a total loss, and that our immediate duty is to save 
society in its industrial, social, international and racial 
aspects. The upholder of the gospel for the individual 
retorts that no changes in social structure will avail, that 
what we need is a new emphasis on regeneration, which 
can only mean the regeneration of individuals. 

These phases of gospel emphasis cannot be set over 
against each other in any such sharpness of contrast. 
There is no such thing as a society apart from the indi- 
divual persons who compose that society. ‘True, there 
have been thinkers who have taught the existence of a 
super-personality embodied in a church, or a state, or in 
an era, but such thinkers have difficulty in showing what 
that personality is apart from the actual persons in 
society. ‘They usually come down in the end to the state- 
ment of an ideal, or to some figurative or artificial entity, 
like a legal creation. There is no society apart from the 
people that compose it, except in thought. We must con- 
cede to the individualist that without individuals there 
would be no society. 

But along with this concession goes another equally far- 
reaching, namely, that without society there would be no 
individuals, at least no individuals worth saving. For we 
realize ourselves as individuals only in our relation to 
society. Any valid thinking has to be in terms of speech, 
and speech is preeminently a social creation. ‘Take an 
individual baby and abandon it on an island. Let us 
work one of the miracles which we can so easily perform 
in the realms of fancy, and assume that in some way the 
baby can get food and shelter without the help of any 
human being. No matter how adequate the physical sup- 
ply of food and shelter might have been, yet at the end of 
ten years the child would hardly be a human being at all, 
except in body. It is society that brings men to true indi- 
vidual distinctness. 

If, then, the individual means nothing apart from 
society, and if society means nothing apart from individ- 
uals, what is all the debate about? It is largely a matter 
of difference of emphasis. The individualist identifies 
gospel duties with the round of obligations to which he has 
been accustomed. So far as the moral life is concerned, 


46 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


the individualist would surely concede the binding nature 
of the Ten Commandments, but the injunction against 
murder, stealing, adultery, false witness, covetousness, 
sabbath breaking, dishonor of parents are all social. 

Part of the difficulty here comes about through the 
proneness of the pleader for the social gospel to overlook 
the inner nature of religious experience. This pleader is 
sO anxious to get something done that he lays constant 
stress on better housing conditions, better lighted streets, 
better working surroundings, better wages. He need not 
be surprised if his individualistic brother thinks that 
social service is outer and not inner. 

We all need to remember that true religion is of the 
spirit. The redemption of society means that society must 
be born again, that it must undergo a change of heart. 
The streams of public opinion must be cleansed and kept 
clean. A religious leader said some time ago that what 
the world needs is to get men soundly converted, to get 
them to give their hearts to God. After that, he said, it 
is merely a matter of educating them to act differently in 
realms which they have thought of as having no relation 
to moral issue. Nothing could be farther from the mark. 
A man may be converted in the personal purposes of his 
life, and yet be positively selfish in politics, social life, or 
business. He needs not only education, but further con- 
version and sanctification. His error is more than an 
error of judgment. He has not yet the right spirit. He 
needs to be born again into a new social spirit. Instead, 
then, of saying that the religious life is one of outward 
external works, we all need to remind ourselves that 
religion is always of the inner spirit. The social gospel 
ought to aim at bringing more and more of our relation- 
ships under the sway of the religious motive. 

The social gospel, then, must work toward the inner 
spirit. On the other hand, the individualist must remem- 
ber that before we can touch the inner spirit of multitudes 
of men, we must change those outer conditions to which 
the social thinker is always calling attention. Minimize 
the environment all we please, the fact remains that until 
the outside of some lives is changed there is not much 
chance to get at the inside. There is flat contradiction 


FEELING AS TO SOME POLICIES 47 


between the ideals of the gospel and the conditions under 
which multitudes of men live, and that contradiction closes 
the minds of men to the gospel. It is easy to sneer at the 
social gospel and to say it is interested only in the physical 
side of men’s lives. Since when did the relief of physical 
hunger cease to be in itself a worthy motive for service? 
Still, the worker is not aiming at the relief of human 
beings as suffering animals, but at their relief as persons. 
The two conceptions must be kept together. It is not 
enough to say that after all our talk about bringing the 
kingdom of heaven into society, our problem would be 
solved if we could just get everybody converted. It would 
not be solved unless the conversion were to include the 
conversion of men in all their social activities. To con- 
vert all men and leave them without an enlarged and 
enlarging idea of social obligations might make the 
world worse. 

With every entrance into an enlarging sphere of Chris- 
tian activity the individual becomes better, and becoming 
better is another name for enlarged salvation. We talk 
of individual piety as a deepening stream of personal 
experience. Let us not forget that we cannot have deep- 
ening streams without widening watersheds. 

The more extensive the salvation of the social order 
the more intensive the personal piety. In the old time 
service the wider the work of grace throughout the com- 
munity the more markedly and intensely personal became 
the conversions. In fine, the mighty revival campaigns 
have always meant the utilization of social feeling for 
the intensification of conviction and repentance in indi- 
vidual hearts. The individual never will get his full 
chance till all the social forces make for religion. If the 
individualist will be more extensive in his outreach, and 
the preacher of the social gospel more intensive in his 
application, the whole problem will be on the way to 
solution. 


X. LATIN AMERICAN FEELING AS TO SOME POLICIES 
OF THE UNITED STATES, 
It would be useless to attempt any serious study of the 
success of missionary enterprise in Latin America without 


48 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


taking account of the feeling of vast numbers of Latin 
Americans toward what they conceive to be the political 
and economic aims of the United States. It is no doubt 
true that the vast mass of the population of the United 
States are entirely friendly in their feeling toward all 
Latin American countries. The “ plain man,” “the man 
in the street,” has no sympathy with any movement look- 
ing toward any sort of conquest of the nations to the 
south of us. Anyone, however, who is familiar with dis- 
cussions of the relations between the United States and 
Latin America is aware of the widespread feeling that the 
ultimate outcome of America’s present policies will be a 
practical predominance of the United States in all Latin 
‘American affairs. Mr. H. H. Powers, in “ America 
Among the Nations,” speaks as follows: 


“Tt is difficult to follow the expansion of America in the 
Caribbean without feeling that it will go farther. Utter 
recklessness and incompetency have characterized the man- 
agement of every one of these pseudo-states which the pre- 
occupations of the real nations have temporarily abandoned 
to independence. It was a matter of chance which one of 
the dancers should first pay the piper, but all have danced 
and all must pay. To the independence party Central Amer- 
ica is its own little world. To the imperialistic party it is 
but a pawn on the mighty chessboard of world empire. The 
United States plays the vaster game, must play it and play 
it well, for the stake is its existence. We have learned 
subtler ways of winning, more varied ways of ruling. Never 
was our frontier more alive than it is today. Not one 
American in a hundred realizes that we have a protectorate 
over Haiti and that our control is creeping out through all 
these southern seas. If he knew, his only reaction would 
probably be a slightly increased complacency. The door is 
thus opened wide for a government, embarrassed by the 
mischievous irresponsibility of these petty-believe states, to 
take refuge in an ever-broadening imperialism.” } 


As an illustration of the feeling caused by utterances 


1H. H. Powers, America among the Nations. 


FEELING AS TO SOME POLICIES 49 


such as that of Mr. Powers we quote as follows from a 
well-known Argentine professor, Dr. A. Abeledo: 


“As is well known up until the present whenever refer- 
ence is made to closer relations between the two Americas 
the intensification of economic relations between them is the 
usual method advocated. This attitude, in which many emi- 
nent personalities have taken part, has not been able to ac- 
complish the desired results. It is certainly true that in 
Latin America the conviction seems to have grown largely 
that the egotistic motive is the one that guides the United 
States in its relations with these countries, and the material- 
istic conception of the North American civilization has been 
more largely confirmed in recent time. The current of 
sympathy toward his country which Wilson succeeded in 
arousing during the war and which caused Ricardo Rojas to 
say that ‘the legend of a ruddy and cannibalistic Yankee had 
disappeared and that the United States was displaying a 
magnificent spirit’ has gradually disappeared. For people 
in general once again the North American civilization is 
considered as barbaric and automatically moved only by a 
utilitarian objective. We would even venture to say, at least 
in reference to Argentina, that she finds herself further 
removed from the United States today than she was in the 
sixth and seventh decade of the past century. At that time, 
at least, our people were influenced by the fervid enthusiasm 
for North American democracy, felt by Sarmiento and 
Alberdi. Certainly with France and England, the United 
States had captured our sympathy. Today this has all been 
modified. While France continues captivating us by the 
-excellencies of her literature, and Great Britain continues 
attracting our thinkers as the country of free institutions and 
good political sense, the United States presents herself to us 
as principally concerned in the conquest of our markets.” 


In the face of comments on the Latin American situ- 
ation, like that of Mr. Powers on the one hand and of Dr. 
Abeledo on the other, it would be folly not to recognize 
the obstacle to foreign missionary work in Latin America 
created by the real or supposed policies of the United 
States toward her neighbors to the south. The facts 


50 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


themselves are rather embarrassing, with or without ex- 
planation. The seizure of Panama by President Roose- 
velt, the taking over of Santo Domingo’s custom-houses 
to ensure the payment of debts to foreign creditors, the 
actual occupation of Santo Domingo by United States 
troops, the practical conquest of Hayti by United States 
marines, the seizure of Vera Cruz by the United States 
Navy in 1914, the punitive expedition into Mexico under 
General Pershing in 1916,—these are facts open before 
all the world. 

We who know the United States are thoroughly clear 
in our own minds that the people of our country have no 
hostile designs against any Latin American nation. The 
ordinary citizen will say that no better proof of good faith 
on the part of the United States toward Mexico could be 
asked for than the willingness of the United States to 
withdraw from Vera Cruz,—or at least to cease plans of 
conquest, as soon as the “ A B C Powers ” offered to act 
as mediators. He will say also that the Pershing punitive 
raid was justified at least as a step toward putting an end 
to border outrages which had become intolerable. He will 
ask also if Santo Domingo and Hayti are not now better 
off than they were before the United States took hold. 
As for Panama, the “ plain man” will pronounce it abso- 
lutely unthinkable that an imperative world-need for a 
highway between seas should be held up indefinitely to 
meet the financial demands of a nation whose claims were 
shadowy to say the least. Moreover, the Monroe doctrine 
has been part of our established policy for over one hun- 
dred years. “ Where would we have been now,” asks the 
plain man, “if Germany had actually possessed colonies 
and naval bases in South America at the outbreak of the 
world war?” 

All of this is advanced by the ordinary American citizen 
in entire good faith. The overwhelming mass of Ameri- 
can citizens have not the slightest desire to deal unfairly 
with Latin America’s sovereignty or material possessions. 
Yet all through the speech of the citizen of the United 
States is likely to run an assumption of superiority based 
on physical force. Our words suggest a hint of self- 
righteousness, because we have kept hands off as long as 


SECRET OF THE SLOW PROGRESS 51 


we have. Our assumption of material superiority is, 
matched by assumptions of cultural superiority on the 
part of the Latin American people,—and these two as- 
sumptions possess immense powers of deepening the 
abysses of misunderstanding between peoples. Back of 
all this lie, of course, the relations between the financial 
interests of the two types of peoples,—but it is not neces- 
sary to resort to a catalogue of the advances of United 
States capital in Latin American lands to account for the 
obstacles placed in the way of the North American mis- 
sionary by national and racial suspicion. Granting that 
capitalists have gone into the southern lands after invita- 
tions and guarantees by those lands themselves, and that 
they for the most part act within legal rights, granting that 
our national policy has come out of the need of dealing 
with urgent concrete situations as these have arisen, with- 
out thought of imperialistic conquest, granting that the 
public opinion of the United States is friendly to Latin 
America, still enough has happened in diplomacy and 
finance and other forms of international contact to make 
the Latin American suspicious of almost everything that 
comes out of North America. We would be blind if we 
failed to see the seriousness of the problem thus created 
for the missionary. 


XI. THR SECRET OF THE SLOW PROGRESS OF 
EVANGELICAL Work. 


The material of this chapter was contributed by a pro- 
fessor in a Latin American university. 

Religion, as such, does not influence, and I doubt that 
it ever has seriously interested, the lives of the Latin 
American peoples. So-called believers never could see 
in religion other than rites and ceremonies; unbelievers 
‘nothing better than superstition. Consequently, religion 
has never furnished to the first named any efficient control 
of conduct; nor, to the second, any matter worthy of 
serious attention. Hence it is that the expressions of re- 
ligious fidelity, which now and again appear on the pages 
of our histories, either have no real significance, are chil- 
dren of a false historical interpretation, or respond to the 
desire to favor the continuance of certain practices which, 


52 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


in spite of everything to be said against them, are deemed 
useful for the weaker vessels of society, 7. e., for women 
and children. Thus Quiroga could inscribe “ Religion ” 
on his war banners, but not therefore was he any the less 
one of the most sinister figures in the anarchic period of 
our history. And Belgrano, illustrious and virtuous 
patriot, who is always classed amongst sincere Catholics, 
in the highlands of Peru, while making mock of the in- 
fantile religious superstitions of the masses, did not any 
the less fail to make effort to placate them, delivering the 
flag he himself had created to the custody of the Virgin. 


1. Reasons for the Lack of Religious Feeling in South 
America. 


Why may it be that religion has so small an influence 
on the peoples of these countries? Why have they never 
taken it seriously? These are more than serious ques- 
tions. To answer them adequately requires an amount of 
attention, not at present available. The following factors, 
however, may deserve consideration. 

(a) Our Greco-Roman antecedents on religious mat- 
ters.—These were profoundly formalistic and widely 
separated from the God concept. 

(b) The psychology of the Spanish people which we 
have tnherited.—This is a psychology which was shapen 
or misshapen through the eight centuries of a death strug- 
gle with Islam. That struggle, which made the Cross the 
indiscussible and incontrovertible symbol of national unity 
in Spain through the middle ages, suppressed all religious 
speculations, petrifying and perverting Christianity, 
making of it more a matter of politics than of religion, 
more an emblem of war than of peace. 

(c) The military conquest of South America—Say of 
this what one will, and postulate the exceptions that one 
may, it was fundamentally encouraged and sustained by 
material motives. 

(d) Popular indifference.— Our cosmopolitanism, 
which has confounded all races and religions, has inevi- 
tably obliged us to an absolute toleration, which has devel- 
oped in its finality to an equally absolute indifference. 

(e) Our condition as a people in embryo—tThis 


SECRET OF THE SLOW PROGRESS 58 


has driven universal preoccupation to the field of utili- 
tarianism. 

The two ultimate factors might have been overcome, 
had any potent spiritual factors been riveted to our soil, 
as in the case of the United States of America. Since 
none such existed, these factors have only accentuated 
the evil. 

In view of these reasons it is open to affirmation that, 
rather than Protestantism, it is Roman Catholicism which 
has reason to complain of the small favor with which it 
is viewed. Not long since, Monsignore Baudrillat, in a 
public lecture delivered in Paris, expounding his impres- 
sions gathered in Argentina, emphasized the religious 
coldness that he found here. Recently a phrase has been 
attributed to Doctor Alvear, (the Argentine President) 
which I consider of absolute precision, “I have become 
acquainted with Catholics in France, but I have never met 
a single Catholic in Argentina.” 


2. Regarded as Essentially Anglo-Saxon. 


In the minds of many, Protestantism is something genu- 
inely Anglo-Saxon. ‘To Protestantize is to make Anglo- 
Saxon. My father, who was a pastor in the provinces, 
was called the “ English curate.” In respect to myself, 
many of my old friends who profess themselves aston- 
ished at my purely Spanish descent, would say, ‘‘ But was 
not your father an Englishman? ” 

Protestantism is held to be cold and hostile to art. 
Frequently such a judgment falls from the lips of intel- 
lectual people. There are those who think that Prot- 
estantism is a sort of accretion builded into Christianity, 
or rather into Catholicism, which for such people is the 
same thing. Good or bad, Catholicism, in their opinion, 
is on the right line of continuation from Christ. St. 
Paul, St. Augustine and other Fathers of the Church are 
Catholics. 


3. The Errors of the Churches in Their Work. 

(a) Lack of instruction in the pastorate-—The churches 
laid themselves out to open Evangelical centers in all the 
country, before a sufficient staff had been developed to 


54 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


direct them. ‘To this must be attributed the stand-off 
attitude of thousands of men and women, who, as chil- 
dren, went to Sunday-schools. When such entered na- 
tional schools and colleges, that is to say, when they came 
up against great philosophical and sociological problems, 
they soon found that their mental position could not be 
reconciled with the teaching of the pastors, and that these 
latter could not satisfy their new vision. ‘They parted 
company. Hence, the present congregations which con- 
stitute the Evangelical churches, are in a great majority, 
uneducated and lacking in social importance. 

(b) Lack of appreciation for the national evangelist — 
Not infrequently the national evangelist has been treated 
as an inferior by his foreign colleague. ‘The latter has 
not always been able to throw off the prejudices of racial, 
national, and cultural superiority. He has dubbed the 
native pastor “brother”; but, frequently, as the vulgar 
phrase has it, “ whilst staring over his shoulder.” The 
foreign evangelist has reserved the best posts for himself ; 
has generally stationed himself nearest the centres of 
greatest resources, where life is pleasanter, and less ex- 
posed to privations; he has, generally speaking, enjoyed 
fair salaries, while the native ‘‘ brother” has little less 
than begged his bread, and resigned himself to leaving 
his children practically unschooled. It is quite feasible to 
explain these matters to a human judgment; but the fact 
remains that, under such circumstances, the native pastor, 
who as a matter of fact is the better prepared to reach 
the soul of the people, necessarily has to see the efficiency 
of his labor impaired. 

(c) Lack of efficiency in the great diffusion of the 
Bible-—The ample diffusion of the Bible which now goes 
forward in this country, responds to no true wish to 
possess it that is felt by the masses. In a very consider- 
able degree this wide distribution is attributable to the 
following reasons: 

(1) Groups of colporters are engaged in offering it, 
day by day and house by house, an advantage possessed 
by no other book. 

(2) It is sold at a very low price. 

(3) It satisfies motives of curiosity. 


SECRET OF THE SLOW PROGRESS 55 


(4) Many people think that in buying the book they are 
aiding men and institutions which are working sincerely 
for social welfare. Consequently, rather than figures 
concerning books sold, statistics of the work really 
achieved in favor of public morality and attributable to 
the Bible are to be desired. 

I recall an instance of how misleading it is to formulate 
conjectures concerning the influence of the Bible based on 
the number of copies sold, or on the classification of the 
people who have bought them. I was a law student at 
La Plata. One day a Bible colporter presented himself 
at the university, offering books for next to nothing to 
the students, who hastened to purchase them. In no 
single instance was there an eagerness to possess a copy ; 
every one ridiculed the Book. Some amused themselves 
with the stories of Genesis; others sought the Song of 
Songs; yet others searched for sexual allusions; the more 
moderate sought in the writings of Moses the antecedents 
of Hebrew law. These were the facts, and they certainly 
present no basis for satisfaction. I do not think our 
people are in any condition to understand the Bible, nor 
to be profoundly moved by it. They lack the necessary 
preparation. They have not witnessed the marvellous 
results which the Bible is producing, and has produced, 
among some other peoples. For those who do have some 
understanding, the Bible is a compendium of superstitions, 
non-existent, and in out-and-out opposition to science. 
There is not even that respect for it which is felt for the 
Iliad and the Odyssey, in spite of the fact that these 
poems include all types of myths. 

The day must surely arrive in which Bible Societies, 
which work so unselfishly amongst us, and for which I 
personally have the most profound respect, will under- 
stand: (1) That, what should be spread as widely as pos- 
‘ sible are the Psalms, the Gospels, and some of the Epis- 
tles, but not the greater proportion of the books of the 
Old Testament, nor some of the New, such as the Apoca- 
lypse. If these books present difficulties to the mind of 
the believer, we may imagine the effect that may be pro- 
duced on the mind of the non-believer; and (2) That 
neither the Bible in general nor any portion of it should 


56 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


be put in the hands of the masses without pertinent anno- 
tations. Nor should these, except in respect to geograph- 
ical or historical facts, be given the characteristics of 
authoritative definitions. 


4. The Special Needs of the Evangelical Movement. 


(a) Preach, before all and above all, Christ—Special- 
ize around His person, life, and teachings. The rest 
of it should come, and will come, as something supple- 
mental. No dogmatism, nor things contrary to reason. 
God gave us reasoning power, and no one should pre- 
tend to make us believe things which are contrary to 
the gift. . : 

(b) Intensify social service-—Let it help life to be in 
accordance with Christian ideals. Show the peoples in 
what Christianity consists, awaken in all the desire to 
collaborate in the work. | 


5. The Understanding of the Work. 


We have noted the great difficulties which oppose them- 
selves to the development of religious activity. We are 
not so pessimistic but we can believe that in spite of every 
obstruction, the work can be carried forward, but it must 
be on another than the present basis. Precisely because 
the difficulties are great the work will be slow: It is 
necessary to admit that conditions will not change much 
between the evening and the morning. It must be under- 
stood that the Christianizing of the people, which carries 
the weight of many non-Christian influences, and which 
has never had the opportunity to contemplate the true 
fruits of Christianity, is a work of time and perseverance. 
Finally it is necessary to understand that all Evangelical 
work must take account of the psychology of the peoples 
of these countries, avoiding the service to them of Chris- 
tian varieties from the same dish as to Anglo-Saxons, 
who have centuries of powerful evangelistic teaching to 
their credit, and who inherit from the old Germanic races 
that religious spirituality which Tacitus discerned in them 
two thousand years since. 


TWELVE CONCLUSIONS 57 


XII. Twrtve Conciusions REGARDING THE DEVELOP- 
MENT OF CHRISTIAN WoRK IN THE FUTURE. 

Excerpts from remarks on the questionnaire made by 
an unattached Christian worker. 

The Montevideo Congress might wisely consider the 
following conclusions, which represent many years of 
study: 

(1) The Roman Catholic Church, which is the Christian 
organization which from the commencement has had the 
care of these Latin American countries, doubtless had not 
in its mind the embracingly social duty which is implicit 
in the ideal of the Kingdom of God. Neither did the 
Church of the Reformers conceive this, for it is a mod- 
ern ideal, the fruitage of the studies due to the pro- 
gressive discovery of the spirit which animated primitive 
Christianity. 

(2) Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church in Latin 
America has done a very appreciable work in the sense of 
forming the character of the creole populations, especially 
by means of its teaching establishments, its moral in- 
fluence being particularly appreciable among women. 

(3) The Roman Catholic Church has labored in favor 
of the civilization and Christianization of the wild 
peoples (primitive races) and of the imported Negroes, 
although, in countries such as Peru and Bolivia, the 
civilizing work has been precarious, and, even today, 
leaves much to be desired. 

(4) In these latter days, the Catholic Church has taken 
on a social outlook. It produced, in the last century, such 
men as Lamennais, Graty and Pope Leo XIII. In Argen- 
tina, as in Chile, this tendency is opening a path today with 
men such as Edwards, de Andrea, Francheschi, etc. 

From a recognition of these four points, the organiza- 
tions affiliated with the Committee on Cooperation in Latin 
America, if they really desire to cooperate, should be able 
to deduce that the best chance of advancing Christianity 
in these countries, will be found in assisting to intensify 
the sociological drift of the Roman Catholic Church, 
which is the spiritual power of the greatest traditional 
prestige at work in these countries. 

Such a work of real cooperation can be carried out in 


58 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


Latin America aided by Latin Americans. Specifically it 
may be covered by the following suggestions: 

(1) Lt would imply an intensification of the splendid 
educational work which is being carried on by such in- 
stitutions as Colegio Americano in Buenos Aires, Crandon 
Institute in Montevideo, the Anglo-Peruvian College in 
Lima, the Santiago College and Instituto Ingles of the 
capital of Chile, Mackenzie College in Sao Paulo, the 
Baptist College for girls of the same city, etc. 

These great educational centers might carry out an im- 
portant work of cooperation and Christianization were all 
to follow the judgment expressed by the Bible professor 
of Granbery College of Juiz de Fora—a veritable saint: “I 
do not teach Methodism here, I teach sacred history and 
Christianity.”’ Or note the statement of the director of 
the girls’ school in Concepcion: “ We make no sectarian 
propaganda, we never attack a dogma of the Church (R. 
C.), but we try to form a strong Christian character in 
these girls, so that through knowledge of the life and 
teaching of Christ, they, when they shall become women, 
may become the Christian women in their own Church, 
and in the circle in which they live.” 

(2) It would imply a similar emphasis on the work of 
both the Men’s and Women’s Christian Assoctatsons. The 
last pamphlet published by The Continental Board, en- 
titled “The Young Men’s Christian Association and Re- 
ligion,” states clearly their purpose to bring home to the 
membership the duty of cultivating the inner life, of 
forming character, of developing spiritual strength. It 
also states their aim of rendering each member an efficient 
member of the community with an unselfish spirit. 

(3) It would mean a mulitplication and intensification 
of Christian work in favor of abandoned and delinquent 
children. Not only should these precious reserves of the 
future be enabled to become men and women endowed 
with the social Christian spirit, but through them, at the 
same time, should be demonstrated the interest which 
ought to characterize Christian people in respect to the 
most sacred rights of the human individual. 

(4) It would mean endeavor to establish in Latin 
America a great student movement. ‘This could be affili- 


TWELVE CONCLUSIONS 59 


ated to the World Student Christian Federation. This 
movement, matching the admirable work of the British 
Student movement, might encourage religious studies, 
Biblical criticism and the analysis of sociological prob- 
lems; and linking up studious youth in works of social 
activity, the betterment of political habits, and in gather- 
ings for international concord. 

(5) lt would call for an intensification in Latin America 
of the work of the Sunday-schools. ‘These should often 
be held elsewhere than in the church buildings, in schools 
or private houses, so as to clearly establish the principle 
that they are not to be centers of sectarian propaganda, 
but rather distributing agencies for the diffusion of a 
knowledge of the gospel. Special programs of instruc- 
tion prepared with the collaboration of Latin Americans 
for the Latin American schools will be advisable. 

(6) It would implant in Latin America the adult school 
of Great Britain. Its methods of high grade religious edu- 
cation by means of lay conferences and, in general, its 
schemes for diffusing religious instruction among the 
people are valuable. At the same time it will be necessary 
to guard against the position of some of the Evangelical 
workers in South America, who, while fighting the Roman 
Catholics bitterly, consider as friends, and even as allies, 
those spiritualists and theosophists who, by their preach- 
ing are undermining the very foundations of Christianity. 

(7) Lt will mean intensifying our support to all mstitu- 
tions destined to promote moral and unselfish work. 
Some of these are the anti-alcohol league, the anti-white 
slave trade league, the International Red Cross, the inter- 
national work for the protection of children, the boy scout 
movement, the girl guide movement, the camp-fire girls, 
the Christian Associations. We should see to it that the 
boy scout movement does not acquire, or, in so far as it 
has acquired, shall throw off any military character, and 
that none of these institutions becomes the tool of any 
coterie, whether Catholic or Protestant, but that they each 
shall serve as a bond or lien holding together all the un- 
selfish elements of any community. . 

(8) Jt will mean giving all kinds of support to the 
League of Nations. All initiatives which tend to foster 


60 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


the gathering together of peoples in friendly relationships, 
and to drive out of national and international usages all 
that promotes the settlement of differences between 
peoples by the arbitrament of war should be encouraged. 

(9) It means the mtenstfication of all Christian work 
already established along national lines. The civilization 
and betterment of the native races, and the creation of 
new efforts of a practical and pan-Christian character 
should be earnestly pushed both as incentives to unselfish 
initiative in this direction, and as models of the way in 
which such enterprises should be run, whether by Catholic 
or lay missioners. 

(10) It means the stimulation of all efforts directed to 
the bringing together of the different classes in society 
and the betterment of the hygienic and cultural conditions 
of the proletariat. Social settlements of non-denomina- 
tional but Christian type should be established in the 
larger cities, so that all kinds of encouragement may be 
given to such as are already submerged, as for example 
the “‘ Sociedad Luz” of Buenos Aires. 

(11) It means the stimulation of the publication of such 
books as shall serve to give a modern Christian orientation 
to the Latin American public on matters social, political 
and international, to help it in the cultivation of the inner 
life, in the study of religious history, and of the life and 
teachings of Jesus, in the cultivation of right feeling, etc. 
Such literature can be produced by the translation of 
selected British, French and North American works, such 
as Wagner, Secretan, Monod, Glover, Gore, Fosdick; etc., 
but, better still, directly by Latin American pens. 

(12) And, finally, it means the creation of groups of 
religious fraternities, less restricted than churches, per- 
mitting the admission of such Catholics as may wish to 
deepen their religious life among likeminded people, yet 
in a form not incompatible with their own Church loyalty. 
These should also have room for those who have sym- 
pathy with Christian ideals, but are not ready to ally them- 
selves to any of the existing churches. Such groups of 
religious fraternities, whose number might be unlimited, 
need not be uniform in their characteristics. .Each group 
being of a limited membership, of identical tastes and 


TWELVE CONCLUSIONS 61 


standards, would present the showing and adopt the cus- 
toms, which its membership might determine. While 
some might lean to the mystical and spiritual, others would 
develop an educational emphasis. The organization of 
the Society of Friends or the Quakers might serve as a 
model for these organizations. They could represent as a 
group of organizations such varied points of view that a 
Catholic might not feel uncomfortable in one, while a 
deist might belong to another, always provided that each 
was sincere in his desire to cultivate the life of the spirit 
aided by the contact and warmth of other souls conscious 
of a similar desire. 

For the development of each and every one of these 
twelve important suggestions, laymen should be respon- 
sible. This is very important, for we must recognize that 
while the Roman Church in South America represents a 
spiritual power with traditional prestige, which should be 
used for good purposes, yet, at any rate in the great cities, 
the mass of people are separating from the Roman Church 
in an ever-increasing scale. The future definitely belongs 
to the laity, and not to any church as such. 

One has to agree with Solomon Reinach when he says: 
“The history of humanity is progressively laical.” But 
we must provide that this emphasis upon the laity shall 
not become a tendency toward materialism. Socialism, 
pacifism, internationalism, and the other five character- 
istics of the modern spirit, these visible proofs that Chris- 
tianity is becoming flesh and dwelling among us—all these 
are true manifestations of the Spirit of Christ as it is 
illumining the minds of the lay leaders of society. They 
afford a promise of the day which is dawning, when all 
society will give itself to the promotion of righteousness. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 
I. PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT, 


BisHop Francis J. McConnewy, D.D., or PirrspurcH, 
PENNSYLVANIA. 


This Report, as will be noted by its readers, proceeds by 
areas rather than by themes or problems. It may fruitfully 
be reviewed from the point of view of its dominant ideas. 

1. We must consider the proper relations of the church to 
the community of which it is a part. The goal of every 
church is the regeneration of individual lives and the re- 
demption of human relationships. In these tasks the pulpit 
is of the first importance. Every pastor must, by qualifica- 
tions and training, be made a real leader who can guide both 
in the church and in the community. It is a great drawback 
to Evangelical church life that so few of our South Ameri- 
can pastors possess this kind of leadership. They have not 
had a sufficiently thorough training in most cases and are not 
making their influence felt in communities, as we sometimes 
think that it should be felt. Every Evangelical church should 
establish a school in close connection with it, wherever such 
schools are needed. The various organizations within the 
churches should always have some outside interest. When 
they have no definite relations to community organizations 
or to the every day life of the peoplé, they are of very 
small value. 

2. The Church should study its community. It is very im- 
portant that it should do this. How can a church discover 
its duty toward the community of which it is a part without 
making some sort of a survey? So far as the Commission is 
aware, no real survey has yet been made under such circum- 
stances. Social problems which do not affect the organiza- 
tions of the churches, or the moral conduct of individual 
members, are, by many pastors, considered outside the field 
of Evangelical activities. Moreover, to a distressing extent, 
the members of the Evangelical churches do not seem to be 
alive to social problems and seem loath to promote social 
enterprises. 

So far as government officials are concerned, their attitude 
is, for the most part, indifferent. They afford protection to 


62 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 68 


the churches because of their neutral attitude toward religion. 
Teachers and professional men are, in large measure, un- 
friendly. In a few cases they are active in opposition to the 
churches. The attitude of business men is frequently favor- 
able. When they understand the social value of what the 
church or one of its organizations is doing, they seem to 
become willing to render their help. Labor organizations are 
quite generally opposed to the work of the church. 

These various attitudes are to be explained by the effect of 
Roman Catholicism on the minds of the people. (a) It kills 
initiative by making the individual dependent for everything 
upon the church and on the government. (b) It produces an 
extreme individualism. (c) It makes tradition and custom 
the attractive principle in social life. (d) An identification 
with the Evangelical minority is made politically and re- 
ligiously unpleasant. 

In order to meet these difficulties, educational and religious 
workers must create and develop the great social principles 
of democratic Christianity. The churches must take every 
means of ascertaining the social tasks in which they should 
have a share. The unreasoning discrimination between “ re- 
ligious” and “secular’’ must be removed. ‘The ministry 
must be prepared to understand social problems and be made 
wide awake to the opportunities and duties of Christian 
social work. The Y. M. C. A. may be fitted, through its 
equipment and methods, to render much help in connection 
with such ministerial training. 

3. The community program of the churches should be 
upbuilt. There are many community needs with which the 
church must grapple. These are quite varied, although all 
are important. The churches and Sunday-schools may well 
take a more active part in the fight against alcoholism, 
Gambling is an evil against which the churches must take a 
clear and definite stand. Yet it seems true that some mem- 
bers of Evangelical churches have been buying lottery tick- 
ets. Illiteracy, the great foe of all kinds of advance in 
South America, should be attacked in some direct fashion 
by our churches. The welfare of little children, in these 
countries where infant mortality is so great, should be con- 
tributed to through the Cradle Roll Department of our 
Sunday-schools. In general, it may be said that responsi- 
bilities of these types are woefully neglected by the Evan- 
gelical churches and church members. The latter are slow 
in exercising the franchise and slower still in lending a 
hand in improving civic problems. These are the sort of 


64 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


problems, however, in which church members should be 
deeply interested and to which they should happily 
contribute. 

Church activities ought to be made to serve community 
needs. In worship, why should not sermons deal with vital 
problems instead of with subjects so familiar as to be some- 
what hackneyed. The idea of the Kingdom may well be given 
a central place. Our congregations ought to have a larger 
and more important part in church services. Everyone 
agrees that a revision of the hymn book is desirable, even im- 
perative. It would surely be ideal, if a hymnal could be pro- 
duced largely written by Spanish-speaking men and women. 

In the general Evangelical program of the community, 
there is a large need for preaching and education. Every 
church should push its educational interests, in order that 
congregations may grow into more and more enlightenment. 
In order that these things may be brought about, money is 
required, which raises the question of church finances. It is 
more and more certain that the financial system of our 
churches can only be properly organized on some sort of 
stewardship basis. 

4. The projection of a community program is described on 
page twenty-one, section five of the Report. Little more need 
be said than is said there. It is quite true that when a com- 
munity sees that its churches are planning to do something 
worth doing, they are sure to give their cordial cooperation. 

5. As to church architecture, all countries make a large 
plea for adequate and attractive churches. ‘The claim is 
justly made that these are absolutely essential, if the Evan- 
gelical churches wish to command the respect and cooperation 
of the communities in which they are located. No more tin 
buildings that might well serve as stables should be erected. 
Churches should be ecclesiastical in style with good acoustics, 
enabling each one within to see the minister. Each building 
should be well ventilated, avoiding drafts, and in the winter 
time should be adequately warm. Moreover, in sub-tropical 
regions, the extremes of hot and cold should be guarded 
against. There is said to be a real difficulty in securing 
self-respecting young men to enter the ministry because of 
the disreputable appearance of so many of the Evangelical 
churches. 


II. Socrar ProsuEMs IN SouTH AMERICA. 


The Rev. Julian S. Duncan, of Rio de Janeiro (Union 
Church), while agreeing that some aspects of church life in 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 65 


the United States might not wisely be introduced in Latin 
America, felt strongly that the interest of our churches in 
social work was needed. Every Latin American church 
ought to learn to take its part and place in community life. 
Such service, however, cannot be rendered successfully until 
someone, thoroughly trained in social principles, has care- 
fully studied the local situation and determined its needs. 

A Commission on Social Service is greatly needed. Its 
secretary should be a man of strong Christian spirit and 
purpose. The South American churches have not failed to 
take up social service work because of any timidity, but 
because they have not fully realized its many-sided value. 
There is, at present, a great opportunity for them to make a 
social and economic contribution to South American life. In 
every theological seminary, however small, there ought to 
be a department of Christian sociology; for what the min- 
isterial leadership plans out with clearness and vigor, the 
churches will do. 


The Rev. Rafael Galizia, of Buenos Aires (Disciples), re- 
ferred, in beginning, to the suggestion on page thirty-seven 
of the Report that among the youth of Latin America, re- 
ligious sentiment is held to be unworthy of an up-to-date 
man, and certainly not worthy of a gentleman. In his judg- 
ment, the Roman Catholic church furnishes an important 
reason for this sentiment. He agreed with Dr. Molina, of 
Chile, that the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church 
explains the general lack of a social conscience among Latin 
Americans. He differed with Bishop McConnell as to the 
attitude of the majority of Evangelical church members 
towards social reform. While admitting that many of them 
were densely ignorant, he nevertheless declared that these 
same members were sympathetic with social advances. 

The speaker expressed his hearty agreement with the state- 
ment of the Report, on page fifty-six, section 4(a), where 
it urged a specialization in preaching about the person, life 
and teachings of Jesus, but took exception to the phrase that 
there should be “no dogmatism” or the preaching of “ any- 
thing contrary to reason.”’ He wondered whether Jesus and 
Paul did not proclaim truths and doctrines which the human 
reason finds it difficult to understand, and which have to be 
accepted in faith. 

On page fifty-seven of the Report, the speaker inter- 
preted the writer as advising active cooperation with the 
Roman Catholictchurches and urged that some of the pastors 
from Spain offer advice with reference to this. The one who 


66 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


made such a suggestion, he declared, must have forgotten 
history. At any rate, if the churches have Bible classes 
today, it is not because of the influence of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church, but because of Luther. 

By special vote of the Congress, the speaker then intro- 
duced the following resolutions, representing the ideas of a 
group of Chilean pastors. After being read, the resolutions 
were referred to the Findings Committee. They read as 
follows: 


1. The Evangelical Churches have been tireless in the formation 
of a collective conscience regarding the use of alcohol and 
regarding other social evils. 

2. It is untrue that the membership of the Evangelical Churches 
is, in large measure, uneducated and lacking in social under- 
standing and activity. 

3. The gospel should be preached in «its integrity, as it is found 
in the Scriptures, and not merely, the doctrines which “ satisfy 
the human reason.” x 

4. The influence of the gospel on any human group may be slow, 
but it is efficient. 

5. There is no way in which the Evangelical churches can wisely 
cooperate with the historic enemy of Protestantism—the Roman 
Catholic Church. 


The Rev. Alberto Tallon, of Buenos Aires (M. E.), took 
up the question whether there are any who regard the work 
of the foreigners among the Evangelical churches of Latin 
America as a sort of peaceful North American penetration 
into the life of each country in South America. Signor 
Ovelli, of Argentina, speaking to the Y. M. C. A., had de- 
clared that Evangelical schools were such “ advanced 
agents.” This, Mr. Tallon did not support. He declared 
that no Evangelical pastor has this belief, and that every one 
of them is too much of a patriot to lend his support to such 
a movement if it were real, nor do the Argentina authorities 
believe it. No competent minister leans heavily on foreign 
aid in his ministry, however friendly he may be toward the 
foreigner. Foreigners, moreover, do not make first rate 
evangelists. They actually hinder rather than help the work 
of changing national opinion. Mr. Tallon confessed that in 
some respects he exhibited some Anglo-Saxon heritage, but 
he wished he might even change his color so as to be out- 
wardly as well as inwardly an Argentinian. More than a 
century ago, when English invaders entered Argentina, the 
people denounced them as heretics. Argentina has always 
maintained her proud independence, so much so that even a 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 67 


poorly prepared national can stir Argentinian hearts more 
readily and thoroughly than the ablest foreigner. 


Mr. R. D. Christian, of Buenos Aires (Y. M. C. A.), urged 
that the survey of social problems was only the beginning of 
action. It is vitally necessary to get to the root of each 
situation, but only in order that the attack may be more 
Vigorous. Quinine will cure a single case of malaria, but to 
get rid of the disease, we have to destroy the mosquito. 

He expressed the desire to present to the Congress, to be 
referred to the Findings Committee, a resolution based on 
six statements, which were as follows: 


1. Commerce is based on unlimited competition and personal gain, 
and not on the disinterested cooperation of all for the main 
good. 

2. It divides the world into two classes: employers or owners and 
laborers, whereas Christ taught that we all are one. 

3. Existing conditions permit one man to compel a weaker man 
to work for him under conditions over which the latter has no 
control, and to discard him when he breaks down. 

4. The modern system of business favors the keen, the shrewd, 
and the unscrupulous man, and not the man who is fair and just. 

5. Its objective is the seeking of the dollar instead of carrying out 
the will of Christ. 

6. It results in the development of class hatred and of crime, and 
goes far toward preventing the gospel from having a proper 
chance. 


Be it therefore resolved: 


1. That this Congress recognizes that it is the duty of every Chris- 
tian preacher to awaken the sdécial conscience of his congrega- 
tion concerning the evils of the existing social and economic 
system. It is convinced that the industry and commerce of our 
day are largely imbued with the spirit which not only is not 
Christian, but develops a feeling which seriously imperils the 
advance of the social ideas of Christ. 

2. It recommends the formation of committees under the Regional 
Committees to study the possibilities of organizing Christian 
cooperative societies for the purchase of provisions and other 
necessities of life, not only to assist in meeting the high cost of 
living, but to map out the route to be followed in transforming 
vere anes organizations into a truly Christian adjustment 
of life. 


III. Pastorat PREPARATION. 


The Rev. Daniel Woll, of Callao, Peru (M. E.), admitted 
that some Evangelical pastors are more ignorant than is de- 


68 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


sirable, but declared that the statement is not at all true when 
made unreservedly. Moreover, had it been true, the responsi- 
bility would be with missionaries and mission Boards, since 
if present day ministers in South America are lacking in 
culture, it is surely the fault of those who gave them all 
their training. 

Referring to this training, he deplored the fact that so 
large a proportion of missionaries come for a short term of 
service, often for not more than four or five years, doing 
much of their instruction in English and failing to get down 
to the every-day problems of the community. This works to 
the discredit of the every-day minister who is really the most 
reliable man in each community. These ministers would be 
more influential if each one had a university education, but 
the responsibility for the lack of it is not entirely on them. 


The Rev. Jorge Goulart, of Lavras, Brazil (Pres.), felt 
that the debate was covering a great deal of useless ground, 
mainly due to the different standpoints of some nationals and 
some missionaries. He declared that those of Latin culture 
are apt to be criticized by those of Anglo-Saxon culture. 
Such criticism, even when not wholly justified, is wholesome, 
when given in a friendly spirit, and should be taken to heart. 

In Brazil, the churches are at least on the right track 
today, doing the very things which it has been suggested that 
churches ought to do, especially with regard to the training 
of ministers. A better balanced leadership, rather than more 
training in social experience, is what our churches most 
really need. There is a great demand for pastors who are 
interested in the work of the Sunday-school, in clubs for men 
and women, or for boys and girls, and in every opportunity 
for making the church felt in the life of the community. 

The Roman Church is not the worst foe of the Evangel- 
ical churches. In Brazil, it is not a moral or even a political 
force in the State or community. It often aims to exercise 
some political control and does for a while, but then loses 
its influence. The Roman Church upholds the lottery and 
even sanctions unmoral practices. It fails to develop a true 
spirituality among the people. The charge that missionaries 
are guilty of political and commercial aspirations is one of 
the deliberate lies which the Roman Church takes delight in 
spreading. Such charges make little impression upon the 
people and none at all upon the government. ‘The cultured 
classes of South America, no less than the lower classes, are 
increasingly favorable to the Evangelical churches. Prot- 
estantism even is becoming an honorable name. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 69 


Rev. J. S. Valenzuela, of Santiago, Chile (M. E.), affirmed 
that the power of the church in any community depends upon 
the adequate preparation of the pastor. He admitted that on 
this point, our Evangelical forces are relatively weak. Times 
and conditions have greatly altered since those who are today 
in pastoral office were trained. Quite frequently a group of 
students will influence the community more than such a 
leader can. There are various reasons for this. It is often 
financially difficult, sometimes impracticable, for a pastor to 
enter the social life of the community, but this difficulty will 
adjust itself as our pastors receive a thorough training in the 
seminaries for the understanding and meeting of various 
social problems. In past years, such problems have not been 
on the minds of the missionaries. Today, the various 
methods that are being developed for dealing with com- 
munity life, such as the dispensaries in cities and the farm 
schools in the country, not only are having a wide influence 
for good, but are seen more and more to be proper methods 
of using Christian time and Christian money. 


IV. Tue Pace oF THE ANGLO-AMERICAN UNION CHURCH 
IN A COMMUNITY. 


Rev. James Freeman Jenness, of Santiago, Chile, declared 
that the Anglo-American Union Churches have a very real 
and important place in the Evangelical program. Particu- 
larly, they draw people into sympathy with many forms of 
Christian service and into the support of these schemes as 
prompted by the Evangelical churches, who would otherwise 
be ignorant and inattentive, if not in active opposition. 
English-speaking churches attract influential business people, 
the representatives of various governments, and officers of 
various sorts, as well as a few influential nationalists, bring- 
ing them into some degree of connection with Evangelical 
needs. At Santiago, there is an international group and an 
interdenominational group, each extremely varied within 
itself and differing sharply as groups, so much so that their 
_ leadership almost resembles the driving of a horse-ox-mule 
team. Yet, under these circumstances, the church really 
functions and is a genuine asset in the life of the Evangelical 
community. 


V. ORPHANAGES. 
The Rev. Othoniel Motta, of Sao Paulo (Ind. Pres.), re- 
joiced that this is the day of the open heart. People every- 
where are becoming more and more friendly, both to each 


70 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNITY 


other and to those who are in need. What work of friendli- 
ness was nearer to the heart of Jesus than the helping of 
little children? How readily He must bless the founding of 
orphanages ! 

The Independent Presbyterian Church is a small church 
with only ten thousand members, but self-supporting and 
self-directing. It believes in orphanages; so does the Roman 
Church. Quite often, just as the Roman Church over- 
emphasized the emotional charity side of religion, so Evan- 
gelical church people are apt to neglect the development of 
practical charities, but they will gain respect and prestige in 
the average community in proportion to their development 
of some practical, constructive community work. Our 
churches so often spend their energies in founding educa- 
tional institutions, when there are many who think they 
should have the spirit of the good Samaritan. Orphanages 
are an excellent investment in Christian service. 


VI. Prison Work. 


Rev. W. M. M. Thomas, of Porto Alegre, Brazil, described 
a successful work for prisoners carried on by his church at 
Porto Alegre in connection with the Young Men’s Christian 
Association. It is a work depending, of course, upon the 
goodwill of the State authorities. Sometimes they refuse 
consent, but not often. A leader in the work is a professor 
in the Southern Cross school. He induces the ministers of 
the community to help him, but goes himself to interview the 
prisoners. At present, services are held and the sick are 
visited. Last October, when a young man was ordained to 
the ministry who had been a helper in this work for several 
years, the prisoners organized a prayer group and spent the 
hour of his ordination praying for the success of his public 
ministry. ‘The church not only seeks to be helpful in the 
ways indicated, but to follow up these men when they are 
set free and to help them to get a fresh start in life. 


VII. Crosinc REMARKS. 


BrsHop McConneE.t. 


There have been several references in this discussion to 
economic imperialism. It may be helpful, in closing, to de- 
clare unequivocally and as clearly as possible that the people 
of the United States, as a people, have no intention of for- 
warding economic imperialism in any way. Even if some of 
those in authority in the United States did seek to interfere 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 71 


in the political affairs of a country on the southern hemis- 
phere, the Congress of the United States is wholly opposed 
to such a policy and certainly would not assist them. 

The work sustained by the American people through the 
missionaries who come to South America is absolutely devoid 
of any political or economic purpose. These churches give 
their money solely in order that the principles of Jesus may 
become, as far as possible, the working principles of every 
Latin American community, and that the blessing which, in 
the long run, attends those communities which seek and 
accept the free and friendly spirit of Christ may become the 
possession of every South American people. 


THE FINDINGS 


1. Inasmuch as the so-called “individual” and “ social” 
gospels constitute two essential and complementary aspects 
of the gospel of Christ, we consider that no Christian church 
fully discharges its mission unless it ministers to human 
welfare in both a physical and a spiritual sense. 

2. Up to the present time, very little has been done by 
Evangelical congregations in South America to study the 
special needs of the communities in which they are placed. 
We recommend, therefore, that, whenever possible, commun- 
ity surveys be made, and pastors urged to ask themselves and 
their people how best they can serve the community in the 
midst of which they live. 

3. One of the chief difficulties in the way of aggressive 
Christian effort in South American countries is the absence 
of Christian public opinion. In view of the fact that the 
mind of Christ cannot be realized on moral, social and eco- 
nomic questions without the cooperation of a healthy public 
opinion, we urge the churches to take all possible steps to 
foster the growth of such opinion. 

4. Considering the fact that South America is lacking in 
agencies that quicken the public conscience on great moral 
issues, and that in consequence of that fact a greater re- 
sponsibility devolves upon the Evangelical pulpit, we recom- 
mend that pastors be requested to preach special sermons 
from time to time on live moral questions in the life of the 
whole community. 

5. We recommend that a series of books be prepared in 
Spanish and Portuguese, dealing with the social implications 
of the Christian gospel, and that among these books should 
figure the translations of selected biographies of men and 
women who gave their lives to the service and uplift of 
others. 

6. In order to stimulate and guide interest in the social 
aspects of Christianity, mission Boards would do well to 
express themselves on this subject to their representatives on 
the field, and so contribute to the formation of a unified cur- 
rent of opinion among missionaries and national pastors. 

7. We recognize the importance of agricultural missions as 
a form of community service, and recommend that such mis- 


72 


THE FINDINGS 73 


sions should, either through direct effort or by means of 
organized agricultural societies, promote community life by 
holding annual fairs which should represent the interests of 
the whole community. Such Missions should also promote, 
wherever possible, community houses and centers. 

8. In order that pastors may be in a position to give the 
necessary leadership in community enterprises, we recom- 
mend that courses in Social Science form part of the cur- 
riculum of all theological seminaries. 


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THE REPORT OF COMMISSION EIGHT 
ON 
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


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Contents 


I, WHat Oucur RELicious Epucation To BE ABLé 

TU MEACCOMPLASE? Wie capt eats Ca eS out Unaetoe eo 81 
1-4. What Religious Education May Mean in the 
Life of a Nation; in the Home; to the Church; 


to the Spiritual Conquistador............... 81-83 

5. What is An Effective Process of Character 
MELLICA PIE? (ck, och ary MMe ls sects Soke yer dates aban 83 

II, PrincipLEs FUNDAMENTAL TO AN EFFECTIVE RE- 
PR Use UUCATIONA tr ose os Me ta iat aly a at 85 
1. Faith in Present Active Spiritual Forces...... 5 
Beye EOI aIty OL IEISt May's. elt eve) area's ante 87 

3. The Educational Process Not Primarily One 
of Knowledge, But of Life and Conduct...... 87 

4. It Should Be Pupil-centered Rather Than 
IVEACERIAL-CONTORCU ee Ce lea so ae ACOs go 

5. The Character-training Process Should Be 
RT TER LGULae whe. SEA CNN uate bt CNL pi in LY cag NT RE gy QI 
Cee Vel UANOd + LGACELSIN Dylon. sks cndea this aes 92 
7. The Conviction of the Community........... 93 

Ill, Tue Acencigs oF ReEticious EpucATION IN 
POUL ag VALER TOR. Bertha St Asay. siete Woe / epmaeetaiie da Put ten 93 

1. The Roman Catholic Church and Religious 
FLCUCATION LS Aye ANaST eos UNat ne iy taraid he 93 
2. Local Church Agencies (Evangelical)........ 95 
Coprihe ‘ottniday-school: aac ewe un wth, 95 
(pa nev ommerteopless Societe. aut. wie 95 
(Ae ren are rion CLASGeG lh. al tanta oie lba aot, 95 
(d) Daily Vacation Bible Schools ........... 96 
Cepuboyescout, Oreanizationsiicys)-.2.0 «tack } 96 
a Hducational: institutionsippwy a. .wudee tine 4 96 
(a) Day. and ‘Boarding Schools :. s.r, 96 

(b) Theological Seminaries and Bible Train- 
INDGSCRODIS yb. Ay elk, ae Chae hee ae ors 96 


(c) Organized Sunday School Associations... 97 
77 


78 


CONTENTS 


IV. Reticious Epucation IN THE Loca, CHURCH... 97 


1. Typical Forms of Religious Education in the 
Local) CHureneaey 00.0 ote ose Cn cc 98 

2-5. The Pioneer Sunday-school; the Semi- 
organized Sunday-school; the Well Developed 
School; the Sunday-school in Connection with 


the, ParochialtSchool:., 0%. iran ano ee ee 98-101 
6. Young People’s Societies and Work for Young 
People se anyune leis fy aS AA eee ee 102 


7. Summary of Local Church Situation; Lack of 
Trained Workers; Lack of Asequate Litera- 
tures: Lack OP Coordination.) ie aes Ae 107 


V. Tue Mayor ProspyuEMs IN ReEvicious EpucATION 


VI. 


Vad 


IN THE, LOCAL CHURCH |.) Ci Win ne 108 
1. The Program of Religious Education: Its Basis 
in Relation to General Education; the Ele- 
ments of the Program; the Time Schedule; the 

hormationgor. a} -rorranl). ... a ee . . 108-112 
2. The Curriculum and Materials for Religious 

Education in the Local Church, . 1.0: I12 
(a) Typical Situations for which Curricula 

Afé Required coi ee ee 114 
(b)-(1) Materials for the Pioneer School; the 
Semi-organized School; the Fully Devel- 
oped School; Training “in Worship; 
Adults’ and Parents’ Classes; Young 
People’s Groups; Special Story Material 
for Children and Youth; Training Lead- 

OLS Bein crores ct ee ee 114-116 

(j) Problems of Production and Distribution. 116 

(i): General ‘Recommendation’ (Jey. aes 116 
3. The Local Church and Its Conception of Its 

Task - 535 ness. GUOe a ce OR Oe ee rey 


RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN Day AND BOARDING 


ScHooys... ehduieih aie, Iie a eee 121 

1. The Opportunity of the Day and Boarding 
Schools: for Character Educationit. 1.7.) cee I2I 

2) WhatvAre the: Problems ?lisziinatQ. a ee oe T22 


3. Objections from State or Community........ 123 
4. Worship in the School’ Program. . 72.9. .23e 123 


VIII. 


IX. 


XI. 


CARD 


XIII. 


XIV. 


CONTENTS 


. Relations with the Local Sunday-school...... 
. The Sunday Program of Parochial, Day, and 

epg ah Wap Sead fe OU er tee CALA OD SRO A 
7, The Atmosphere of the School.....:......... 
8. The Need of Specially Trained Teachers and 

UP UAlICatiOnet nr wer twee ary T a4. 
9. The Curricula for Religious Education in Day 
BNO MOUrdin gy) SCHOO Aes atthe sy oo ujecce ws ou. vate 


nWr 


THE SUPPLY AND ‘TRAINING OF LEADERS AND 
TEACHERS FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION........... 
1. The Pastor and the Theological School....... 
2. The Training of Church Workers and the 

Dine sLeaining Sehool nee et. eee dias 
3. The Supply and Training of Leaders and 

Weachersvin the local Chureh fr. GA i ae 


THE EXTENSION OF SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES 
THROUGH EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES Hi tk. 20. 
1. The Church’s Loss in Its Own Constituency... 
Pave Pioneer, Sunday-eschooliici sduirve sete 3 
REV OLANCO yoUTMdavescnOOl. 5-2, 8. . Nes vin Mele che 
4. The Daily Vacation Bible School............ 
5. Bible Study Classes without Church Affiliation. 


WAPI ED PANDIINE WIRAGENCIES | ¢ 4.5 ar Soa ror cg dee Claret 


1. The Young Men’s and the Young Women’s 

Be ePStiatid SRO CEO MTOTT.) Gics bo ckiteialk oo el altenanine ual 
21 Desay Vacation bibles ochool wh aie. s,s. 
Romnempoy scout Movements. 20.2 d nk sects 
eaiticides om Camphre Girls oan ees teste 


CooPERATION IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION......... 


THe Major EMPHASES AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
eed PEIN POR Te iyi S a's cle ha teeta eer et a ei neers 


IJTSCTISSION OF VTHE UREPORT) fost. ek aol el a ele 


AVA Re WINDING ly yes cote aes ay hand (Sy AN ban 


ARE a 
: : ‘ or 4 i 4 nt eee 5 np Poe); 
A at ae Gi us aes : Ne ar ee A 
1 Deve ie Er RRs rie es) 
ase Res oy thy x iss bo 
agp ocr ‘nines Ale 


Pek fl Gat: 


4 Ay hati iz 
ei b 
P ‘ Vy aul th. 7 
Ea, Ant shor) iy 5) 
Ae ea : 
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“7? J m P 
indy! ey ry rau ea ee 





RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


I. Wuat Oucut RELIcGIous EpucaTIon to BE ABLE 
to ACCOMPLISH ? 


At least four groups of persons are interested in the 
answer to the question “ What ought religious education 
to be able to accomplish? ”—-(1) the thoughtful, patriotic 
citizens who seek the best for their country; (2) the 
home-makers, the fathers and mothers whose hearts are 
wrapped up in their children; (3) members of the Church 
and pastors, who strive to deepen and purify its life for 
its redemptive service; (4) those within and without or- 
ganized Christianity who seek to bring under the sway of 
Jesus Christ more and more individual men and women 
or to extend His influence to areas of human life—social, 
industrial, literary—-where His teaching is little compre- 
hended and less followed. 

To all who read this, one or another of these points of 
view will appeal; many will share in all of them. 


1. What Religious Education May Mean in the Life of a 
Nation. 


The thoughtful citizen’s first concern is for that com- 
bination of freedom and order that is the foundation of 
modern national life. This foundation must be cemented 
by a widespread loyalty to the common weal. Upon this 
the patriotic citizen would see built a glorious super- 
structure—an intelligent and active citizenry, the decline 
of drudgery, poverty, and disease, moral leadership in the 
councils of the nations, wise use of leisure, the rise of 
genius in the arts and sciences. 

But the basis of all these hopes is the character of the 
individual citizen. Freedom and order, the corner stones 
of democracy, are not maintained by police forces but by 
the ability of the citizen to govern himself among his fel- 
lows with justice, honor, and good-will—and these are 


81 


82 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


traits of character. Loyalty to the common weal must be 
not a passing emotion but a trait of character. Colonel 
Lawrence said rightly, “the art of government wants 
more character than brains ”’—character in the spiritual 
and political leaders of the nation, character in the officers 
of the Government, above all, character in the ordinary 
citizen from among whom these others come. 

If there be any process by which high qualities of char- 
acter can be created in a nation, such a process must, in 
the eyes of the patriotic citizen, be priceless. 


2. What Religious Education M ay Mean in the Home. 


Few, indeed are the parents who do not have some 
worthy ambition for their children—comfortable circum- 
stances, honorable position, high qualities of mind and 
will, power of intellectual and spiritual achievement. Yet 
these also are inextricable from the formation of char- 
acter. If there be powers, processes, influences, by which 
nobility and strength of character may be acquired by our 
children and youth, what would we not give to have them 
at our hand to use! 


3. What Religious Wi disci May Mean to the Church. 


Those who, as members and leaders of the Church, seek 
its upbuilding are—like the patriotic citizen—concerned 
with persons. The Church does not consist of buildings, 
services, and sermons, but people. ‘Their character is 
both the index to its present achievement and the hope or 
the despair of its future success in ministering to man- 
kind. How significant, then, would be an effective process 
of character-training in enlarging the spiritual resources 
of the Church! 

In the words of the report from Brazil: “ The pastoral 
function of training for perfection of life, character, and 
service, is as essential.a part of the program as the evan- 
gelistic. The training of character for service is ‘ relig- 
ious education’ and the Church of Christ cannot accom- 
plish its objective without using the means and the 
methods. Religious education is, therefore, of supreme 
importance; and no Church that neglects it can long 
prosper, or even live.” 


OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH _ 88 


4. The Meaning of Religious Education to the Spiritual 
Conquistador. 


A fourth group might be termed spiritual conquista- 
dors. Their battle is with spiritual blindness, supersti- 
tion, vice, sin in any form. Some seek, whatever their 
contacts, pastoral, evangelistic, educational, social, to en- 
throne Christ in the hearts of individual men. Others 
are struggling to gain great areas of human activity for 
their Master—the fields of industrial relations, of roman- 
tic literature, of wasted leisure or debauched talents. 
Pioneers such as these do battle whether they see rein- 
forcements coming or not, but unless they know. that 
every inch of ground gained may be held they have reason 
to count their labors vain. Only that molding of the 
thoughts and ideals of men that becomes crystalized in 
character will make their conquests permanent. ‘The at- 
tainment of- fundamental political or economic reforms 
may be brought about on a rising tide of popular feeling, 
but they are not maintained except through their perpetu- 
ation as elements in the character of the people. The 
spiritual traits of some man upon whom the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ has shined cannot be. inherited 
by his children—they must be acquired again, and this 
means a character making process. 

Thus the patriot, the home-maker, the church worker, 
the spiritual pioneer each have profound interests in the 
shaping of individual character. 


5. What is an Effective Process of Character Education? 

It has always been the conviction of society that char- 
acter can be developed. In every age education has 
sought not only to increase information, but to improve 
judgment and to develop moral integrity. Too frequently, 
however, education has attempted simply to mold char- 
acter, to.train children so that they would have the habits 
and attitudes which their elders had found desirable with- 
out, at the same time, developing in them the capacity for 
independent growth which would enable the next gener- 
ation to improve the present generation. That is the prob- 
lem of religious education—to conserve the attainments 


84 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


of the past, and, at the same time, make possible progress 
for the future. 

When we view critically the processes by which society 
—or a church—endeavors to form character, we find much 
less certainty as to the true method. The old standbys 
of “precept and example” are being found inadequate. 
“The more the subject is studied in the laboratory of ex- 
perience, the more clear it becomes that religious attitude 
is not determined and moral character is not built up 
solely or perhaps chiefly by oral instruction or the printed 
page,’ says a modern educator. “The educative forces 
of life are varied, and this holds especially in the realm of 
morals and religion. ... This perplexity and difficulty 
of character-building has led to confused thinking, yield- 
ing such statements as ‘character is an educational by- 
product’ and ‘you cannot train character,’ which have 
done much harm.” Yet “we hold that character is, in 
some of its important elements at least, a specific and defi- 
nite thing, that it can be trained, that educators can aim at 
it, and that with more precise methods better results can 
be hoped for and accomplished.” ? 

Two points are clear. First, any character-developing 
process that can be consciously applied must be educa- 
tional in its method. Character does not obtain its trend 
from any one event or experience, but from the effect of 
frequent satisfying experiences tending in the same direc- 
tion. When the development of such experiences is 
guided by some one else there is established an educational 
process. Says the Chile report: ‘ Home life, home envi- 
ronment, street morality, and the background of inherit- 
ance in ethics and religion, require us to give direction to 
life in its most plastic stage. It is the scientific method of 
procedure, for it tends to prevent evil rather than resting 
satisfied with the hasty cure of a few cases.” 

In the second place, this character-making process must 
be religious. Otherwise it becomes mere training, like the 
training of animals. The young of intelligent animals 
can be trained to perform certain acts which their trainers 
wish them to perform, but they do not by this process 


1W. F. Russell, in Christian Education in China, pp. 247, 249. 


FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 85 


develop moral discrimination, the ability to choose, nor is 
there with it any dynamic which leads to growth. Re- 
ligion represents that element in character training which 
enables persons to discriminate moral ends, to value and 
re-value right and wrong. It represents also that devel- 
opment of purpose or loyalty in relation to Christ which 
furnishes for character development its dynamic. A 
person might be one of good habits, reliable, kindly, un- 
selfish and all the rest, without having developed the essen- 
tials of real character, which are found in this ability to 
set up purposes or goals and strive for them and to keep 
re-examining these purposes and having them go on and 
on, nearer and nearer to perfection. Such a process, when 
religion becomes personal, puts one in fellowship with Him 
who is the source of these growing standards of value and 
these developing purposes, the Christ Himself. 


II, Principles FUNDAMENTAL TO AN EFFECTIVE 
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 


In establishing an effective character-developing process 
basic principles appear to guide us, 


1. Fatth in Present Active Spiritual Forces. 


If the very essence of the universe is Divine purpose, 
it must be an active present power, into contact with 
which humankind may—and must—come to fulfil the 
purpose of its own existence. To Christian faith such 
contact is not only possible, but vital, real, and with effect 
upon human life. Therefore the very process of the 
formation of Christian character requires that we clear 
away all barriers to such contact. Our whole program 
of education—from its atmosphere to its materials and 
schedules—must be planned and carried on with the real- 
ization that God seeks constantly a continuous and direct 
Fatherly relation with all His children. 

When we test our religious educational work by this 
principle we find contrasting practices. Prayer is offered; 
the purposes of God as revealed by the prophets and in 
Jesus Christ are studied; hymns expressing attitudes 
toward God are sung; the lives of those who have lived 
near to God’s purposes are retold in story and in reading. 


86 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Faith in active present spiritual forces is at least implicit 
in the educational work of the Church and the Sunday- 
school, 

Yet, on the other hand, there appears often a concealed 
assumption that these vital forces are not for children and 
youth to experience. Instead of prayers being those of 
the children and youth themselves they are offered by the 
leader or teacher. The pupil often observes others’ re- 
ligion but is not encouraged to practice his own. Passages 
are memorized without comprehension of their meaning 
and the words and phrases of adult religious experience 
are constantly used.» Services of worship are held in 
which, though the routine of worship is followed, no fresh 
clear wind of God’s joy and loving care in present human 
circumstances stirs the air. Moments when God’s pres- 
ence is most vivid are disturbed by the reading of notices, 
demands for attention, instructions as to what to do next. 
Too often teachers are selected who do not actually 
possess a vital relationship to God and a sympathetic un- 
derstanding of the religion of childhood—a false reliance 
on the notion that there is some mechanical certainty that 
if we talk about religious matters, sound character 
formation results. | 

This principle has a further meaning for character- 
development. It is, conceivably, entirely possible to in- 
culcate considerable knowledge of Biblical information 
and of standards of right and wrong, and to train the 
pupil in many right habits of action. But knowledge plus 
habits of routine action does not constitute a complete 
Christian life. Persons are constantly faced by moral 
situations beyond the range of previously acquired knowl- 
edge and habits. A person cannot be made into an 
automaton. Only through fellowship with a Divine per- 
son can the moral power be secured both to discover and 
to attain new and needed ideals; such fellowship can be 
gained in religious education only if the practice fully 
accords with this principle. Religious education is not less 
spiritual because its method is educational. It “ does not 
seek to substitute education for religion, nor training for 
a vital religious consciousness.” It seeks to make constant 
use of Divine aid in spiritual growth. 


FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 87 


2. The Centrality of Christ. 


To Christians the centrality of Christ to all of life bei 
to the process of character-training is an immediate 
corollary of the first principle. Here the significance of 
Christian religious education stands out. It has its power 
to make ideal character because Christ is at the heart of it. 
His teaching and life manifest the ideals and principles of 
conduct and of character which we seek. Fellowship with 
Him, as a living spirit, “closer to us than breathing, 
nearer than hands or feet,” is the creative force in the 
process of Christian education. All other persons, past or 
present, are significant for Christian character-building 
only as they increase knowledge about Him, love of Him, 
life with Him. 

No doubt all thoughtful Christians would accept this 
principle at once. The crux of the matter is our practice. 
This appears in two different ways of using the Bible as 
curriculum material. ‘There have been courses of lessons 
which sought to “cover” the Bible every seven years. 
Others seek to build Christlike character by meeting the 
pupil’s need for knowledge and love of Christ and His 
Father. The significant result appears, that pupils in the 
latter courses grow more steadily in the knowledge and 
love of Christ and also know more about the Bible! 

The Bible means what it does to Christians, far above 
every other consideration, because it contains the record 
of Christ’s life and teaching. In our use of the Bible in 
religious education we must keep Christ central. 

Here, again, even given teaching material based on this 
principle, if the teachers fail to have Christ central in their 
own lives, the educational result may be the reverse of 
what we desire. 


3. The Educational Process Not One of Knowledge Pri- 
marily But of Life and Conduct. 


As already indicated, the validity of depending upon 
moral instruction, upon information concerning right and 
wrong, upon precept and example, as the method of seécur- 
ing character must be questioned. Common sense has 
always insisted that we learn in and through experience. 
Parents and teachers and others have offered to save the 


88 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


new generation from many failures and difficulties,—have, 
indeed, pled with them to listen to advice,—but each gen- 
eration has repeated the attitude of its predecessors and 
has insisted on learning for itself. 

Experimental education confirms practical observation 
by insisting that character is developed and habits are 
formed in and through experience. It is what one does 
that he learns, not what he is taught; what he does with 
satisfaction he tends to continue, what he does with dis- 
satisfaction he tends to avoid. If crying brings a child 
what it wants, it tends to cry whenever it wants some- 
thing. If crying fails to produce results, it gives it up as 
useless: so with temper, deceit, and jealousy, so with 
thoughtfulness and goodwill, so with independence and 
discrimination. If a person’s parents have always taken 
responsibility for him and his teachers have made decisions 
for him, and he has concurred, he grows up a dependent 
individual. If he has had the chance to think and decide 
for himself, and has felt the joy of independence, he 
learns to be a resourceful and independent person. No 
amount of advice not to lose one’s temper or to be un- 
selfish or independent will be effective. It is what one 
does that determines what one will be. 

In such a process the teacher or the parent may be a 
comrade and guide. If the child has confidence in him, 
then he will be a part of the experience. He may prevent 
many disastrous trial-and-error learnings; the child may 
profit by his larger experience; the child may learn from 
him in the difficult experience of achieving his own char- 
acter. If, on the other hand, the teacher or parent simply 
gives advice; if he tries to make this advice effective sim- 
ply by rewards and punishments; if he thus arouses the 
child’s opposition, then the child will submit as long as he 
is too weak effectively to protest, but will break with this 
authority, as many young people have broken, as soon as 
possible. 

The Bible has supreme value as a book of experience, 
recording the race’s struggle with these problems faced by 
every new generation. Taught in this way it is rightly 
most fascinating, useful, and helpful. 

The conception of right instruction as sufficient to pro- 


FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 89 


duce right living is undoubtedly most widely evident in 
our practice in South America and, for that matter, in 
most religious education the world around up to this time. 
But this is probably not due to any profound conviction 
of the adequacy of the principle, but because we have all 
been following tradition and the line of least resistance. 
We have depended, and are depending, largely upon in- 
struction apart from life, and this must be changed. 
Our contrasting practices are indicated thus: 


Based chiefly on 
knowledge. 

a. “Opening exercises” 
conducted entirely by 
the superintendent of the 
Sunday-school with the 
pupils only singing 
hymns. 


b. Learning how to teach by 
studying a book and by 
writing correct answers 
to questions. 


c. Lesson instruction con- 
sisting chiefly in reading 
a Biblical passage, asking 
the pupils what it means, 
telling them what it 
means, asking them ques- 
tions” to ’see if)” they 
“know their lesson.” 


d. Continued use of the 
catechism with memori- 
zation of question and 
answer. 


e. Study of a lesson arbi- 
trarily selected by an 
overhead committee with 


Based on a more complete 
actevity. 

Young People’s Society reli- 

gious meetings where the 

whole service is conducted 

by the young people them- 

selves. 


Learning how “to teach by 
practice teaching combined 
with observation, study, and 
guidance. 


Discussion of the purposes 
of characters in a lesson re- 
sulting in a debate requiring 
the pupils to look up material 
and form judgments; plan- 
ning and doing some act of 
service, based on discussion 
of characters, 


Discussion in class groups of 
problems in the actual life of 
the pupils, the pupils them- 
selves, with leader’s coopera- 
tion, deciding upon Christian 
solutions. 

The selection by the class of 
a project which will require 
individual initiative, choice, 


90 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


lesson helps prepared by and constructive activity on 
writers far removed from the part of each member. 
the actual local situations 

in which the lesson is 

used. 


Even these items still remain as activities within the 
church only. They must become dynamically related to 
the everyday experiences of boys and girls and young 
people, if the religious education is to be effective. There 
seems yet little understanding that the church must di- 
rectly influence home and school and play. 

As Professor George A. Coe says: 


“ Within the pupil’s mind the religiously educative process 
is religious living itself rather than something external to 
religion and merely preparatory for it. To learn to pray by 
praying; to learn to love by loving here and now; to learn to 
think by thinking here and now; to develop sturdy reliability 
by carrying present responsibilities and exercising present 
discretion—this is the revolutionary conception that we any 
tOntace. ech, A 


In such a process of religious experience the significance 
of the preceding principles will be evident. Jesus will 
become central in the life of children as they seek to 
practise His way of life. God will become real to children 
as He becomes a part of their experience, a person whom 
they come to know in experience as they come to know 
other personalities. It is a matter of experiencing re- 
ligion actually and really that religious education aims to 
accomplish. 


4. Our Educational Process Should be Prep eaniered 
Rather Than Matertal-centered. 


The over-emphasis on the instructional phase of re- 
ligious education, noted above, is probably due primarily 
to the conviction that there is a certain body of knowledge 
which the pupil ought to have. Our attention is focussed 
upon what we want the pupil to know. A contrasting » 
process is to turn our attention to the pupils themselves, 


FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 91 


see what they are like, what their interests, problems, and 
needs are, and to plan our methods and select our material 


on this basis. 


In practice we find both principles tried: 


a. Uniform lessons for all 
ages; 


b. A system of lessons 
which undertake to bring 
the entire Bible to the 
pupil in historical 
sequence; 


c. Hymns and prayers, un- 
doubtedly Christian, but 
expressing adult relig- 
ous experience, “ taught ” 
to children; 


Lessons specifically adapted 
to groups of pupils with com- 
mon interests, needs, and at 
common stage of develop- 
ment; 

A program of religious edu- 
cation which takes its point 
of departure from the expe- 
rience of the pupil looking to 
the Bible and to other sources 
for material to enrich and 
direct experience; 

Hymns and prayers which 
express the experience of the 
pupils; 


d. Memorization of pas- Memorization of passages 
sages, not understood, only as they are understood 
but which will be “useful by the pupils and can be used 
‘Ego der in present experience. 


Clearly we cannot accept the third principle without its 
corollary—that the curriculum activities and material must 
meet the pupil’s present moral and religious needs; they 
must be based on what he already knows and does; they 
must be im contact with all his environment and experi- 
ence; they must use such methods as are suited to his 
experience and capacity. 


5. The Process of Character-Training of the Pupil Should 
Be Untfied. 
The significance of this appears as we note general 
practice. 
a. Parochial school and church college pupils have one 


92 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


course of Bible study on week-days and another, entirely 
unrelated, on Sunday. 

b. The young people in the churches have one scheme 
of education and training at their societies and another in 
Sunday-school, without coordination. 

c. The training in church school and in the home is 
often carried out without either knowing what is done in 
the other. 

d. The Sunday-school curricula are generally prepared 
without correlation with the knowledge the pupil gets in 
day school. 

Since habits of Christian conduct are formed only by 
many repetitions of similar solutions of problems of con- 
duct, and since a medley of ideas are not as easily assimi- 
lated by a pupil as a coherent unified development of ideas, 
our failure to unify the educational process blocks our 
own way. As far as possible the process of character- 
education of each child must be so unified that each part 
of his training builds upon the others and ts not a contra- 
diction, a confusion, or an unreal duplication. 


6. Well-qualified Leadership. 

Do we believe that “anyone can teach a Sunday- 
school class,” or that it requires skill and therefore 
training? 

If religious education consists chiefly in requiring 
memorization, delivering exhortations, asking and secur- 
ing the correct answer to fact-questions, then securing 
teachers is indeed simple. If, on the other hand, the 
process is as delicate and truly a pioneering task as has 
been indicated, then qualifications of character and ability 
are required. ‘These qualifications are, first, the possession 
of vital spiritual life—genuine, deep, and steady—with a 
firm grasp upon essential Christian faith—in terms not 
simply of doctrine but of life. This is a sine qua non. 
To this must be added, as a background, a well-developed 
knowledge of the mind of childhood and youth and of the 
material used in the teaching process—the Bible, Biblical 
geography, the history of Christianity. There are also re- 
quired knowledge of the principles of child-nurture and 
of methods of teaching, and, finally, experience, under 


AGENCIES OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 93 


skilled guidance, in actual teaching. Life, knowledge of 
materials and processes, skill are the requirements. 

Too much is at stake for us to be indifferent to stand- 
ards of leadership. 


7. The Conviction of the Community. 

No matter upon what sound principles processes may 
be based nor how skilfully the actual work may be 
planned, unless there undergirds it all the conviction of 
the community of the imperative importance of character- 
education among children and youth, the consequences will 
be petty. Individuals may demonstrate what might be, 
but any great fundamental forward movement of human- 
ity requires the steadfast, determined support of the com- 
munity. The community may be a group of teachers, the 
members of a local church, a pastors’ association, a de- 
nominational council, a continent-wide congress, or the 
whole body of the spiritually-minded people. But if these 
hold with the reports of the Regional committees—that 
“the place of religious education in the strategy of the 
Christian enterprise is at the advance post of any move- 
ment, and it should be made permanent,” and that “ re- 
ligious education is of supreme importance, and no church 
that neglects it can long prosper, or even live ”—then, in- 
deed, the service of humankind through Christian educa- 
tion will be able to give to South America new generations 
with spiritual powers such as the continent has never 
yet known. 


III. Tur AcENcIEs oF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN 
SouTH AMERICA, 
1. The Roman Catholic Church and Religious wedi 

A constant factor to be considered in every phase of 
the work of the Evangelical churches in South America 
is the presence and influence of the Roman Catholic 
Church. It will be of value in any discussion of religious 
education to know what the dominant church does. 

The Roman Catholic Church believes emphatically in 
early and thorough religious training, if we understand by 
thoroughness the learning of the catechism by heart and 
some fundamental facts about Bible and church history. 


o4 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


In the devout families it begins in the cradle. The chil- 
dren learn sooner to name Jesus, Joseph, and Mary than 
to name their own parents. The Roman Catholic Church 
has defended strongly the right of the parents to educate 
their own children in their own religion, even in the public 
schools. ‘That church believes that the right of choosing 
and teaching religion belongs to the family and not to the 
state. When church and state are united, or when the 
religion of the state is Roman Catholic, that church re- 
quires compulsory religious teaching in primary and sec- 
ondary schools. For the primary schools it requires the 
learning by heart of the catechism; in the secondary 
schools, Bible history and some elementary church history. 
Usually the local priest examines the children on the cate- 
chism or at least witnesses the examinations. In the In- 
stitutes or secondary schools a fuller knowledge of the 
catechism and a more comprehensive view of church 
history is given. All the religious texts have the bishop’s 
approval and in the Institutes or Academies in some 
countries religion must be taught by the priest. The 
Roman Catholic Church has emphatically condemned 
again and again the neutral schools, 7. e., schools in 
which religion is not taught, and it has considered the 
state guilty of a deep sin when it allows that class of 
schools to exist. 

When the church and the state are not united, then the 
church advocates the parochial schools, declaring the par- 
ents who fail to send their children to them guilty of 
mortal sin. Whether the church is united to the state or 
not, whether the children have been taught the catechism 
or not, the Roman Catholic Church makes it mandatory 
upon every pastor to examine both boys and girls in the 
fundamentals of the catechism before the first communion, 
usually received between the ages of ten and fourteen 
years. In Latin America the countries where church and 
state are united and the official religion is the Roman 
Catholic are: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bo- 
livia, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina. In Colombia and 
Peru enforcement of the church’s laws concerning teach- 
ing religion in public schools is the most strict, in Argen- 
tina and Ecuador the most lax. 


AGENCIES OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION | 95 


2. Local Church Agencies (Evangelical). 


(a) The Sunday-school—Among the Evangelical 
churches the Sunday-school, the home being excepted, is 
the most universal agency.” 





Total, Officers, 


Number of Teachers 
Sunday Schools. and Pupils. 

Ateeritinga’s iy eal, eRe 258 12252 
Bolivia sy Pas BL eA. 17 842 
1 2h 1 Ny gd ea ag Me b2y5 60,145 
revert OU Na us SR 190 10,632 
Colombia ee ee, 10 804 
Penadon ie. La 10 300 
EU UAY Pale sey «3 vg daramerad “i 252 
PE PSTAB UE WA Sic cy. b o-0 Vite ae ots 61 4,401 
ROAR Via vei uidis! (os tet a ete. 45 e222 
Menemuela eis oo Oot 27 1,102 


The total number approximates 2,153 schools, with a \ 
total enrollment of teachers, officers and pupils of 108,590, 

These Sunday-schools are of various types. Some are 
entirely independent of local churches. More common is 
the single Sunday-school attached to a local church, but 
there are many instances of churches with one or more 
branch Sunday-schools. From the statistics above the 
average Sunday-school apparently consists of 50 teachers 
and officers and pupils. 

(b) The Young People’s Society— A second agency of 
religious education attached to the local church is the 
young people’s society, under various names, Esfuerzo 
Cristiano, Liga Metodista de Jovenes, Luther League. 
Unfortunately, no statistics are available. 

(c) Preparation classes—In the local church are also 


2 The statistics used throughout this report are taken from the 
“World Atlas on Christian Missions.” The statistics furnished 
by the World’s Sunday School Association from a few of the 
countries are somewhat different. ‘They are as follows: Argen- 
tine 250 schools, total enrollment, 16,550; Brazil 1,528 schools, 
with 81,287 pupils; Chile 190 schools, -with 10,632 pupils; Para- 
guay 8 schools, with 340 pupils; Uruguay 35 schools, with 4,680 
pupils; and Venezuela 24 schools, with 936 pupils, 


96 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


classes in preparation for church membership and some 
of the agencies referred to below are often attached to a 
local church. 

(d) Daily Vacation Bible Schools—These have begun 
to appear. Argentina has two and Chile several. Else- 
where they are unknown. Week-day religious education, 
supplemental to the local Sunday-school, is practically 
unknown except as a phase of another agency, as the 
parochial school or the day or boarding school. 

(e) Boy Scout organizations-—These have developed, 
but are little used by the churches. Bible study classes in 
considerable varietys have been promoted by the Young 
Men’s Christian Association and by the Young Women’s 
Christian Association. 


3. Educational Institutions. 

(a) Day and Boarding Schools—Next in extent to 
agencies in local churches are the day and boarding schools 
and colegios. In those under Evangelical auspices re- 
ligious instruction is generally present. ‘The statistics are 
as follows: 


No. of No. of 


' Schools. Pupils. 
Ar Cen titial elaine eda ite se deere Scns 20 1,571 
Beli vital, eT arn LS I Re 14 1,092 
BEAT AA CET en 161 11,568 
CT ee Gale Meee Metro este Ili, 34 2,334 
COLO D Tate CT eae nang aT 17 938 
Benadort et Pyne NOSED (HS. NE Oe a 
Gaiana British wey er eee oy 170 23,470 
Guana, ute her amen ee 31 3,439 
Giana) Hrench et es fi FH Le a ee 
Paras tay ase ecient 5 99 
PPE Toa Wave: seats as Salata pana 4 4 3j2ee 
AU TUES AV alee htarsts «to pone tmmen ec I 116 
WOTIEZIIGLA er iuis Siei'as eshasn apie tue 10 358 


(b) Theological Seminaries and Bible Training Schools. 


3 Under the auspices of the German Lutheran Church are also 
200 parochial schools wth 20,000 pupils. 


IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 97 


—For the training of leaders and workers in religious 
education there are theological seminaries or Bible train- 
ing schools in several of the countries. 

(c) Organized Sunday School Associations ——Of these 
there are now several, one each in Argentina, Uruguay 
and Paraguay, one in Chile and one in Brazil. The last 
has two full time secretaries, the others one each on part 
time only. Denominational agencies, however, have sev- 
eral; Chile reports two on full and one on part time; 
Brazil two on full and four on part time. Several volun- 
teers assist in preparing lesson materials. Where there are 
organized Sunday School Associations, institutes, confer- 
ences and teacher training classes of varying scope are 
promoted. The Brazil Association has had three insti- 
tutes in a year in addition to three or four under denomi- 
national auspices; Argentina has had five; Chile, two. 
Associations of teachers in day and boarding schools 
afford opportunities for study of educational problems, 
including religious education. 

In Chile one denominational worker is giving full time 
to the young people’s societies;'in other countries there 
are occasional part time workers. | 

Detailed consideration is given to these typical agencies 
in succeeding sections. 


IV. ReEticious EDUCATION IN THE Loca, CHURCH. 


The most important single center for an effective program 
of religious: education is the local church. Here can be 
maintained contact with a life from its beginning through 
the formative years and the whole period of maturity. No 
other social institution except the home has such an oppor- 
tunity. Furthermore, no other institution to so widespread 
a degree can develop religious education. The schools of 
the State may require a limited amount of formal instruc- 
tion, but with inadequate results in character-formation. 
Private day and boarding schools, other than parochial, 
will probably never reach great numbers. If effective 
widespread religious education is to be attained it must be 
developed by the zeal of and in association with local 
churches. To succeed here is to master the problem. 


98 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


1. Typical Forms of Religious Education in the Local 
Church. 

Briefly they are: (a) the pioneer Sunday-school; (b) 
the semi-organized school; (c) the fully organized 
school; (d) the church with a parochial school in addition 
to the Sunday-school; (e) young people’s societies; and 
({) such special organizations as adult Bible classes and 
classes preparing candidates for church membership. 


2. The Pioneer Sunday-school. 


This forms a distinct type according to the reports from 
several countries. 

“What might be called primitive schools consist very 
largely of groups that respond to missionary effort. 
These schools are opened in new territory and constitute 
the germ which often develops into a congregation.” 
(Argentina ) 

“Many very primitive Sunday-schools are begun and 
carried on in the homes of church members, meagerly pro- 
vided with lesson helps or other literature and still poorer 
in trained teachers, but out of these beginnings spring 
churches and schools; the carpenter shop, patio, or parlor 
becomes too small and a hall is rented, later a church may 
be built.”” (Chile) 

The characteristics of this type are: temporary meeting 
place, pupils often changing; little or no organization or 
division into classes; irregular program of teaching; lead- 
ership largely untrained. ‘“ Some pupils come in only for 
one or two Sundays, attracted by the music or by some 
special program, and others attend as much as several 
months.” (Chile) 

The possibilities of these pioneer schools seem consider- 
able. ‘They reach out to children and adults who may be 
entirely without religious influences and as potential cen- 
ters of new and carefully developed religious activity 
they are very important. ‘Testimony from such schools 
among unprivileged groups indicates that when skilfully 
led, character-formation is out of all proportion to the 
labor invested. ‘These schools should also be helpful in 
discovering and training leaders. Young people from the 


IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 99 


churches and the day and boarding schools can find in 
these pioneer schools opportunity for practical training, 
valuable both for the work and still more for their own 
character and experience. 

The program is by no means standardized. “As the 
children in these groups know practically nothing about 
Christianity and have had very remote contact with re- 
ligion, much organization or division of classes is impos- 
sible. Simple Bible stories, especially the life of Christ, 
constitute the teaching material.” (Argentina) “In Val- 
paraiso and Santiago,” reports Chile, “there have been 
tried, with very good results, series of street Sunday- 
school meetings which amount to open air preaching 
services in which pictures and singing attract the children 
in populous districts.” "Too rigid standardization is prob- 
ably unwise, as local conditions greatly modify what is 
possible. The following questions and suggestions are 
worth considering: 

(1) Would several standard series of Bible picture rolls 
(perhaps picture cards also) be helpful? Such series 
would not follow the dated Uniform Lessons, but could 
be begun at any time. They might consist of stories (a) 
from the life of Christ, (b) based on the most simple 
parables, (c) about Old Testament characters, (d) child 
life and conduct with Biblical allusions. 

(2) The Daily Vacation Bible schools (see pp. 136-8) 
are suggestive for this type of Sunday-school. The play 
interest and activity interest are universal and programs 
appealing to them are certain to be serviceable in attract- 
ing children and establishing regularity of attendance in 
new situations. 

(3) Can some phase of week-day work be introduced? 

(4) Where illiteracy is serious, would it be possible and 
desirable to teach reading as in the original Sunday schools 
in Eighteenth Century England? 


3. The Semi-organized Sunday-school. 

In this group belong most of the Sunday-schools in 
South America. wie 

“The majority of Sunday-schools in Brazil consist of 
little groups of a few adults and children in a rented room 


100 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


or a small, plain church building. ‘The teachers and of- 
ficers have had little or no technical Sunday-school train- 
ing, and have but vague ideas of psychology and peda- 
gogy. Often they have scant literature adapted to their 
needs.” (Brazil) 

‘The majority of the Sunday-schools in Argentina and 
Uruguay are small schools with an average attendance of 
sixty to seventy pupils and connected with some chapel or 
rented hall. They are divided into classes, though this 
division does not always follow proper erading. The 
number of classes, all too often, depends upon the teach- 
ers and space available?” (River Plate) 

“Practically all our Sunday-schools are ungraded, or 
but partially graded. Meeting, as most do, in one room 
unadapted for class work, with untrained teachers and 
officers, their primitive condition is not surprising. A few 
schools have departments. ‘The majority provide a de- 
partment for small children, usually called ‘ Principiantes,’ 
which in the larger schools follows the graded lessons. 
However, the average school is divided into five or ten 
classes studying the same lesson. All meet together for 
the opening and closing exercises. ‘The program is rou- 
tine, seldom enlivened by special numbers.” (Chile) 

The characteristics of. this type are: an inadequate 
meeting place, generally a single room; classes only 
slightly separated into age groups except for a division 
containing the very small children; teachers and officers 
rather generally untrained; uniform lessons practically 
throughout; training in worship limited to routine open- 
ing and closing exercises; enrollment generally small. 
Not infrequently two or more such schools are branch 
schools directed from a local church. 

The importance of this type is very great. Throughout 
all rural sections, in small towns, and in many sections of 
the larger cities the local churches will never have a very 
large membership nor highly developed buildings. Yet 
because of their numerical importance and because of the 
fine leadership that often develops in such churches every 
possible step must be taken to make them effective 
religious-educational agencies. 

The problems of this type of school are ‘so related to 





IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 101 


general conditions that they can best be treated with 
others later. 


4, The Well Developed School. 


“There are also the well organized schools attached to 
educational institutions and some of the larger self- 
supporting churches. These groups are well graded, using 
the graded lessons, and in a number ot cases have a corps 
of well trained teachers.” (River Plate) 

“There are, however, an increasing number of Sunday- 
schools in the cities and towns that are more highly devel- 
oped, have better accommodations, are provided with 
well-trained teachers and have an adequate supply of all 
the Sunday-school literature available in Portuguese.. A 
few teachers use lesson helps in English.” (Brazil) 

These schools are never branch schools and are gener- 
ally in the stronger churches and have a larger enrollment 
than others. Because of their outstanding position and 
the tendency of smaller schools to be influenced by them, 
effective character training in them extends beyond their 
walls. Often from their resources in personnel they can 
develop branch schools, which in return bless the central 
church. 

Problems and suggestions concerning this type will ap- 
pear further on. 


5. The Sunday-school in Connection With the Parochial 
School. ! 

Where parochial schools are attached to local churches 
a situation concerning the local Sunday-school appears 
which should be noted.* 

In many instances pupils in the parochial school and 
children not in the parochial school attend the same 
Sunday-school. This greatly hinders effective religious 
education. [he ‘parochial school children receive re- 
ceive religious instruction daily; the others only once a 
week. ‘To adapt teaching material and method and pro- 
grams of training in worship to fit these two groups 


4The consideration of religious education in the parochial 
schools will be found in Section VII, pp. 124-127, 


102 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


simultaneously is impossible. Every effort should be 
made to separate them. 


6. Young People’s Societies and Work for Young People. 


“Aside from the Sunday-school, most of the local 
churches have some form of young people’s organization 
with a definite program of studies and other activities 
tending to prepare the members for more efficient Chris- 
tian living.” (Chile) Similar statements come from other 
countries, but the condition of young people’s work ap- 
pears far from satisfactory. 

“Organizations through which young people can be 
trained in the Christian life have grown quite slowly. 
Very few Sunday-schools organize the older boys and 
girls for religious activities. Only about three-fourths 
of the congregations have Christian Endeavor and Ep- 
worth League Societies. In the early days, the emphasis 
was placed upon preaching the gospel. The older pastors 
were never trained for building up the church life. Many 
of our pastors frankly confess ignorance concerning work 
with the young people. Only three Sunday-schools have 
their boys organized as Boy Scouts. The great difficulty 
here is the lack of leadership. The adolescent problem 
baffles most of our Christian workers, and with boys 
and girls of this period we are failing most signally. It 
is urgent that pastors and leaders of church life under- 
stand the significance of the growing social impulses 
of the adolescent years. They must understand that this 
is why religion should be socialized in the days of youth. 
The young people’s societies and the organized classes 
should be institutions for religious education.” (River 
Plate) 

Venezuela emphasizes the value of effective young 
people’s work: 


“The young men and women of Venezuela are untrained 
for leadership and yet it is not difficult to find ability suitable 
for training. It is a great mistake for the missionary himself 
to assume the duties of all the officers and committees, think- 
ing that they will learn by observation. It should be the 
young people’s own society, each member should have some 


IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 103 


responsibility. They will learn cooperation in Christian work 
through committee work. Their knowledge of missions will 
be widened; a vision of Christian service will be received, 
resulting in life-consecration to definite Christian work, as 
well as deepening the spiritual life of all.” 


The educational principles involved are strongly 
stressed in the reports. 


“The great educational principle in all such voluntary 
organizations is self-expression. Here is also opportunity 
for making many fresh impressions, but the distinctive ele- 
ment should be self-originating activities in religion. These 
do not exclude mature guidance any more than does the self- 
activity of school pupils. In fact, the voluntary organiza- 
tions of youth often supply the educational factor that has 
been so greatly lacking.” (River Plate) 

“To win and hold young people for active participation in 
Church affairs would mark the difference between apathy and 
energy in church life. The work of the Esfuerzo Cristiano, © 
the Liga Metodista de Jovenes and other organizations has 
been exceedingly helpful but much remains to be done, par- 
ticularly in giving them responsibility for church work. If 
there is not enough for youthful energies, let Church-directed 
charities be organized, schools opened, orphanages begun, 
classes started in sewing, dress-making, millinery, carpentry, 
clinics arranged for budding dentists, doctors, and other pro- 
fessional men, providing activities in which almost any mem- 
ber of the Church community may find a place of service. 
Education classes both conducted for the young people them- 
selves and by them for poor children in tenement ‘ conven- 
tillos’ have been tried in different places and have been 
proved to hold the interest of young people who without their 
activity would have drifted away from the church. There 
ts nothing in the normal development of young people or 
adults which should lie outside the circle of the Church’s 
interests. If a survey of conditions in several different 
churches, (religious, home, school, recreational, social) could 
be made and the results graphically presented to the various 
groups of national workers with recommendations as to 
measures by which the Churches could meet the conditions 


104 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


portrayed, a more general appreciation of the needs for en- 
listing young people in Christian service would be aroused, 
and means would be found, work begun, opportunities seen, 
which are waiting for just such an awakening. We must 
give the young people work and responsibility.” (Chile) 
“Provision for social life and for meetings of a more inti- 
mate character than is possible in a Sunday-school room 
should be sought. As in Sunday-school work, literature 
adapted to the social conditions and habits of thought of 
Chile is needed. Above all, pastors and church officers and 
all who work with young people should understand that there 
are many varieties of_spiritual experience and of Christian 
activity, and that young people need not show all the char- 
acteristics of an experienced adult Christian.” (Chile) 


The difficulties of inadequate local leadership call forth 
these statements also: 


“The problem should be studied broadly and locally with 
a view to granting more freedom of initiative and more re- 
sponsibility to the young people themselves.” (Brazil) 

“The lack of suitable meeting places and of adequate di- 
rection and stimulus for the organizations that have been 
started has been aggravated by the slight team-play and co- 
operation shown by the Chilean, young people themselves 
when not encouraged by someone with initiative. But the 
spirit of cooperation can only be learned by actually working 
or playing at some problem that has been made to grip their 
attention, so that its solution means more to them than 
individual preferences and petty rivalries. More literature 
and better meeting places are urgent, but above all is needed 
trained leadership to supply the stimulus and map out the 
activities which the young people need.” (Chile) 

“Failure, in some cases where these organizations have 
been tried, has been because their activities have not been 
intelligently directed. ‘There must be skilled leadership and 
the members must be instructed and impressed with the true 
proportion of things.” (River Plate) 


Other points to be guarded are noted. 


“The educational, or at least the training, idea of young 


IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 105 


people’s societies is not generally recognized. The effort to 
have an active society is rarely accompanied by proportional 
effort to direct activity toward truly educational ends. 

“The proper age limits of these societies have not always 
been noted. They are determined by nature herself and coin- 
cide with the limits of adolescence. It is safe to say that 
there is no sufficient reason for societies and clubs much 
before the age of twelve or after the age of thirty. Within 
this period later adolescence will furnish the members for 
one group, the senior society; early and middle adolescence 
the members for the junior society, or for a junior and inter- 
mediate society. In present practice, however, persons far 
beyond adolescence mingle with the youth of the senior so- 
ciety and take away its distinctive character and function.” 
(River Plate) 


All reports stress the lack of adequate literature. “The 
literature for this branch is improving, but is still pain- 
fully inadequate.” (Brazil) “There is also a lack of 
satisfactory literature for young people, dealing with high 
ideals of personal life, with questions of health, hygiene, 
sex, and the establishment of happy homes. Many trans- 
lations are to be had, but this literature must be produced 
with a clear understanding of the prevailing attitude, 
background, and upbringing of the young people.” 
(Chile) 

The value of institutes is pointed. out in a statement 
from Chile. 


“At present four organizations are devoted to the exten- 
sion of young people’s work, the Epworth League Union of 
Santiago (Methodist), the El Vergel League (Methodist), 
the Christian Endeavor Societies (Presbyterian) and the 
Federacion Nacional de Sociedades Bautistas. The Meth- 
odist Church has a missionary at work extending young 
people’s societies by literature and visiting. The Presbyterian 
Committee last year published a year’s course of topics and 
organized a deputation. The Baptist Federation was re- 
cently formed, and has held an Institute in Temuco. The 
vision must be conveyed to the young people by visitation 
from church to church, and by institutes for leaders. 


106 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Whether this leadership is provided denominationally or in- 
terdenominationally, the institutes should be held regionally 
in cooperation to secure larger attendance and more attrac- 
tive programs.” 


A striking warning of the lack of adequate coordination 
of these societies with the whole program of the local 
church is sounded by the River Plate statement and 
echoed in Brazil: 


“While our work is still in its formative period care should 
be taken not to reproduce the present chaotic condition of 
the young people’s work in the United States. From the 
standpoint of system and economy of force, the conditions 
there are lamentable. Between the Sunday-school, the va- 
rious societies, the catechumen’s class, and the public worship 
there is no clearly recognized principle of differentiation or 
of coordination. There is overlapping in membership and in 
function. The same young persons are carrying on Bible 
study in their society and in the Sunday-school with no con- 
nection between the two plans of study as to course, method, 
or administration. The societies conduct prayer meetings 
whose relation to the weekly prayer meeting of the church 
is ambiguous. They hold Sunday meetings that clearly com- 
pete with the evening worship. This confusion results 
largely from the lack of a definite educational idea. 

“ Order will be restored when the Church recognizes itself 
as a school. One immediate result will be the fusing of the 
various systems of Bible study. One reason why the Sunday- 
school has a competitor in the societies is the lack of specific 
adaptation of the Sunday-school curriculum to certain stages 
of development. When this defect is removed there will be 
no essential reason for the competition. If the Sunday- 
school were to broaden out into a school of religion, it would 
provide for direct spiritual impressions and for spiritual self- 
expression appropriate to each stage of growth. It would 
lead young adolescents to self commitment to Christ and to 
membership in the church, Why then, should not the junior 
society become identical with the corresponding department 
of the school? Meetings other than those of the general 
school could be held whenever they were needed; officers 


IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 107 


could be elected and committees appointed; in fact every- 
thing now done by the society as a split-off body could be 
done fully as well by a department of the school. The result 
would be great economy of energy on the part of adults, and 
positive gain in the unity of the pupil’s consciousness.” 
(River Plate) 


In the senior society the case might well be the same. 


7. General Summary of the Local Church Sttuatson. 


In the statements of the Regional Commissions certain 
problems emerge as chief: 

(a) The lack of trained workers—No problem is so 
strongly emphasized by the field reports as this. The lack 
of facilities, and of funds for training teachers and leaders 
is emphasized, but a more fundamental deficiency is the 
unreadiness of possible workers to take the trouble to be 
trained. 


“The outstanding problem we face in Sunday-school and 
Young People’s work is found in the paucity of trained work- 
ers. Literature, of a kind, is available; the raw material of 
untaught pupils is plentiful; a place to do the work is usually 
at hand; but persons who are willing to dedicate time and 
thought to the work are very, very few. If our teachers, 
officers, and young people would really use the materials at 
hand we would see our Sunday-school work transformed.” 


(b) The lack of adequate literature both for curriculum 
and for promotion.—All reports stress this need. Brazil 
urges “more appropriate lesson courses,” “literature for 
use in the home,” “adequate literature for the simple 
people of the hinter-land,” “a great deal of more adequate 
literature for young people.” Chile reports, “ We have 
far to go in securing the best literature for our needs, for 
teachers and pupils in boarding and day schools, Sunday- 
schools and other organizations’; and adds that there is 
“lack of adequate curriculum,” “lack of adequate story 
literature,” “lack of adequate teachers’ guides and lesson 
helps.” Says Venezuela: “The great problem in the 
Sunday-school is to get helps in Spanish and have them 





108 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


in time for use.” ‘ The materials for the religious edu- 
cation in the local church are very inadequate,” states the 
River Plate report, “the lesson helps are very scanty and 
it is pitiable to see with what difficulty the new lesson helps 
are produced.” “For more than a year and a half the 
Sunday-school workers of our field have not had available 
a text-book for training teachers ” ; suitable text-books are 
urgently needed for teaching religious education in theo- 
logical schools. 

(c) The lack of coordination—The reports from the 
field, except that from the River Plate, do not emphasize 
as fully the problems of coordination as they do the prob- 
lems of leadership and curriculum literature, but fre- 
quently situations are described which show the urgency 
of this factor. ‘The Brazil statement refers to the need 
for coordination of the young people’s work and for an 
integrated program of religious education in the local 
church. “ There has been no serious attempt to correlate 
the religious teaching in the regular school program with 
what the Sunday-school provides.” (Chile) ‘‘ There is 
very little cooperation of parents in the work of the 
Sunday-school or other religious educational agency.” 
(Chile) The vigorous emphasis of the River Plate re- 
port on the correlation has already been cited. 


V. Tur Major ProsueMs IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
IN THE LocaL CHURCH. 


Reports and data from various South American coun- 
tries indicate four major problems of religious education 
in the local church: program; curriculum and materials; 
trained leadership ; and the local church’s conception of its 
task. Of these the problem of leadership will be treated 
later. ! 


1. The Program of Religious Education in the Local 
Church. 


(a) Its basts in relation to general education.—There 
are two typical situations in general education affecting 
the program of religious education. The first is where 
the public school program is entirely secular, all religious 
education being eliminated, or where formal religious edu- 


PROBLEMS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 109 


cation in the public schools is insufficient for Christian 
character education. The religious educational program 
here must be entirely outside of the regular day school 
hours and work. ‘The local church must in this case 
decide whether the Sunday period is sufficient for ade- 
quate religious education and whether it will add week- 
day religious education outside of public school hours. 

The second situation appears when the State law recog- 
nizes education under private auspices adhering to govern- 
ment standards, and permits the addition of religious edu- 
cational courses. Here the local church may establish a 
parochial school. (In such a case the State may provide 
no finance for the school or it may subsidize the secular 
courses.) If the church does not develop a parochial 
school, then it must, as in the first instance, consider the 
adequacy of the Sunday program and the possibility of 
supplementary week-day work. If it establishes a pa- 
rochial school the Sunday program must be considered in 
a new light. | 

Adequately equipped and operated, the parochial school 
(or a mission day or boarding school associated with a 
given local church) undoubtedly affords a better oppor- 
tunity for effective religious education than any other 
type. The educational activity of the pupil is more nearly 
unified than it can be otherwise and there is larger oppor- 
tunity for religious and moral educational activity. 

(b) The elements in the program of the local church 
without a parochial school—A very brief inquiry of the 
regional committees as to the elements of the program 
reveals both the strong hold the purely instructional con- 
ception has and also definite efforts to get beyond it. 
Brazil finds the chief elements to be (1) a uniform Bible 
lesson for the Sunday-school, with special courses for 
three elementary groups and for new Christians; (2) 
weekday religious education coordinated with this Sunday- 
school instruction. Venezuela states them as Bible stories, 
missionary education, Bible history and geography, doc- 
trine perhaps using a catechism, Church history, intensive 
study of parts of the Bible, much memory work, teacher 
training classes. The River Plate suggests insistence on 
the need for trained leadership; properly graded lessons, 


110 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


a simple course for newly organized schools or classes, 
the coordination of young people’s societies with the 
Sunday-school, and the organization of the church and the 
family into educational unity. Chile states the essential 
features systematically : 


“A. Teacher training, (1) of present teachers, (2) of 
future teachers. 

“B. Religious instruction, (1) Sunday-school, (2) Week- 
day religious education, (3) vacation Bible school, (4) pro- 
bationer’s or catechumen’s class. 

“C, Training in worship; (1) Sunday-school, (2) 
church, (3) prayer meeting. 

“D,. Training in giving; (1) Sunday-school, (2) church, 
(3) charity. 

“FR. Training in Christian service; (1) in the Church 
activities, (2) in community betterment, (3) in other altru- 
istic activities. 

“F. Social development. 

“G. Recreational development.” 


Another point of view gives this suggestion: 

Educational processes: training in worship; training in 
Christian activity, including giving, service, social activity, 
and recreation. 

Clasification of pupils: (1) newcomers without religious 
training, divided into chief age groups; (2) pupils with 
previous religious training, divided into chief age group- 
ings as beginners, primary, junior, intermediate, senior 
(young people), and adults. 

Educattonal agencies: The church school, with sessions 
on week-days (if practicable) and on Sundays; the work 
of each group in the school to include all the educational 
processes indicated above, groups combining or subdivid- 
ing as may be desirable. Organized departments in the 
adolescent groups to be equivalent to the young people’s 
societies in organization and activity. Adult groups to 
contain parents’ classes. Adult and young people’s groups 
to contain normal training and teacher training classes. 
Week-day curriculum to be largely activity and instruc- 
tion; Sunday curriculum to be largely worship and activ- 


PROBLEMS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 111 


ity, but some worship features in the week-day and some 
instructional features on Sunday. 

(c) The time schedule-—Two items should be noted 
here. The first is the fact that in much of South America 
there is but one preaching service on Sunday in each local 
church, and that is held in the evening, the Sunday-school 
being held in the morning, with two to two hours and a 
half available. The opportunity which this gives for a 
well-developed educational program on Sunday morning 
is striking and should be used to the full. Training in 
worship, adequate class periods, meetings of group organ- 
izations for service activities can be shaped into a well- 
balanced and fairly complete program for all the members 
and constituents of the church. 

A second item is the development of Sunday sports. 
This is stated to be a leading difficulty. The Evangelical 
idea of Sunday observance has generally been opposed to 
such activities on Sunday. Outside of the Evangelical 
group these are regarded as a normal part of the day’s 
life. On the other hand, the church is making practically 
no provision at any time for the social and recreational 
activities that youth reasonably demands and which, kept 
wholesome by proper leadership such as the churches 
could give, should be a powerful factor in sound character 
education and in allying young people with the Church. 
Serious consideration should be given to this phase of the 
church’s program for young people. 

(d) The formation of a program.—All the Regional 
committees point out the desirability of a unified program 
for religious education in the local church which can be 
suited to the most elementary situations and yet grow 
into a more extended program as the church grows. 

Because of the lack of opportunities, prior to the Con- 
gress and during its sessions, for the prolonged counsel 
necessary for forming such a program it 1s suggested 
for the consideration of the Congress that a commission 
might be formed, consisting of several regional groups, 
the chairmen of which with a few British or North Amer- 
ican advisors might form a central body for common 
counsel and for the preparation of a statement. The full- 
est exchange of information and suggestion should pre- 


112 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


cede the formation of plans, which should then be widely 
examined and revised before final issuance. 

The program thus worked out should provide specific 
suggestions (1) for the pioneer Sunday-school, (2) for 
branch Sunday-schools with possible week-day opportuni- 
ties, (3) for the smaller churches, (4) for the larger, 
more fully organized churches. Every effort should be 
made to provide standards of effectiveness with flexibility 
in meeting needs. Such a program should become the 
basis of definite study in all theological and worker’s 
training schools as a guide to church work and the de- 
nominational and interdenominational agencies should use 
it as expressing their objectives in assisting the develop- 
ment of local church work. 


2. The Curriculum and Materials for Religious Education 
in the Local Church. 


The regional reports all express at one point or another 
dissatisfaction with the present curricula and materials. 


“Constant improvement is being made in literature in 
Portuguese for pupils, teachers, teacher-training, and young 
people. The greatest lack at present is in that for young 
people, to help them in their Christian life, in their church 
societies, and in directing them to and preparing them for 
Christian life service. One of the great obstacles is lack of 
funds for publication. Recent North American educational 
developments should be studied and adaptation made where 
desirable. General plans for Latin America would probably 
be suitable to Brazil, but the language must be Portuguese. 
Adequate literature is needed for the simple people of the 
hinterland.” (Brazil) 

“The materials for the religious-educational work of the 
local church are very inadequate. We feel that the mission 
Boards should budget a liberal allowance for preparing the 
teaching material which is to help form the members of the 
native church. In the older grades, it is very important to 
include lessons touching on certain indigenous or national 
problems, such as gambling, illiteracy, lying. The temper- 
ance and missionary lessons should be treated with more of 
a local background than hitherto. 


PROBLEMS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH § 118 


“ A properly graded system of lessons should be furnished. 
The present difficulty with the graded lessons in Spanish is 
that the course lacks the intermediate and senior lessons. 
Furthermore, there should be a simple course in the life of 
Christ to be given in newly organized Sunday-schools or, in 
older schools, with classes of new recruits. The greatest gap 
is found at present in the work with adolescents.” (River 
Plate) 

“The materials available for first class work are far from 
satisfactory; a few translations for teacher training, certain 
years only of the international graded lessons and meager 
lesson helps for teachers of the international lessons sum up 
the whole supply. Improvement can best be secured by a 
congress of religious-educational leaders from each section 
of Latin America to study actual conditions and determine 
lines of literature emphasis. A single country is too small a 
unit for the preparation of a special literature. Moreover, 
racial inheritance, historical development, and present reli- 
gious and social conditions are similar throughout Latin 
America. Consequently, materials with this background, by 
writers (preferably Latin Americans) who have a working 
knowledge of Spanish literature and Hispano-American tra- 
ditions, would find general acceptance. Each country might 
have certain local publications to supplement the general sup- 
ply, but the main line of advance should be away from trans- 
lation toward original production. 

“In Chile, as everywhere, graded lessons are indispensable 
for effective work. But here a departmental graded system 
is better because of its greater simplicity, requiring fewer 
courses, and consequently a smaller number of books in any 
given year. In Chile, until the handicap is overcome of not 
having teachers with even the rudiments of higher education 
and its attendant ability to prepare a lesson for teaching, 
some system of uniform lessons may be necessary, in many 
cases, that instruction may be given to all the teachers at 
once. In Concepcion the Methodist Church is using what 
graded material there is in Spanish with very good success, 
as it can draw on the trained teaching staff of both Methodist 
schools. In the same city the Presbyterian Church continues 
the uniform lessons in the conventional way because most of 
the teachers feel they cannot prepare their lessons alone and 


114 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


without the weekly lesson study class. Lessons better adapted 
to social and moral conditions in Chile, and to the calendar 
of the southern hemisphere, are imperatively needed. Steps 
are being taken to insert special lessons on peace and pre- 
vention of war.” (Chile) 


(a) Typical situations for which curricula are required. 
—The analysis given in Section IV and in this section 
seems to indicate that to meet the curricula needs of South 
American schools we need first to satisfy the needs of the 
present types and that then consideration ought to be given 
to new curricula closely suited to the newly proposed pro- 
gram for religious education in the local church. The 
types requiring first attention with reference to curriculum 
and materials are (1) the pioneer school; (2) the semi- 
organized school; (3) the fully developed school with or 
without week-day work, and with or without the integra- 
tion of the young people’s societies with the school; (4) 
teacher training. 

(b) The materials for the pioneer school—tThere is no 
material specifically adapted to this type. The prevailing 
custom is to use the International Uniform Lesson Series 
without reference to date. Picture papers, such as 
Manzanas de Oro and El Aurora, picture lesson cards 
with Spanish text, and, where possible, the large picture 
rolls, are effective in attracting and holding the interest of 
both children and adults. 

It might be wiser for these pioneer schools not to at- 
tempt to follow any dated series of lessons, which inevi- 
tably have topics more suitable for advanced instruction, 
but to have four or five undated lesson series covering 
three to six months each and consisting chiefly of story 
cycles. Such cycles as the life of Christ, the Beatitudes, 
some of the parables, the story of Joseph, stories based 
on some of the psalms might be practicable. The ma- 
terials would consist of a small pamphlet containing the 
stories and standard suggestions for carrying on pioneer 
schools, and a Bible picture roll illustrating the stories. 
Possibly picture cards also might be made available. 
Picture rolls of songs to be taught might also be prepared. 

(c) Materials for the semi-organized school.—At pres- 


PROBLEMS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH § 115 


ent the small semi-organized school with teachers of lim- 
ited training finds the graded lessons too difficult. Often 
the pupils cannot be divided into satisfactory groups. 
The uniform lessons, however, are unsatisfactory for the 
younger age groups; and even when efforts are made to 
adapt them, the results are far from satisfactory. The 
semi-organized school ought at least to divide into five 
class groups represented by the beginners, primary, junior, 
intermediate-senior and adult groups. If this were prac- 
ticable, curricula being developed in North America and 
Great Britain might be suggestive. In North America the 
courses, known as the Group Uniform Lessons, are pre- 
pared on a three-year cycle for the primary, junior and 
intermediate age groups, an entire age group, however, 
studying the same lesson each Sunday. The material, at 
present, is appearing in periodical form. Careful study 
should be given to this development in meeting the needs 
of the semi-organized school. 

(d) Materials for the fully developed school—The 
regional reports indicate that the graded lessons have been 
of considerable value where there are teachers of suf- 
ficient training to use them. The major difficulty is that 
the series is incomplete just at the point where it is most 
needed to reach the young people. 

Definite steps should be taken to secure enough addi- 
tional courses each year so that pupils who have had 
the advantages of the graded lessons need not fall back 
into the use of the uniform lessons. 

(e) Material for training in worship—lt is suggested 
that for the development of training in worship a con- 
tinuous series of programs of worship be prepared and 
issued in periodical form, programs to contain materials 
for the leader’s use with practical suggestions on training 
in worship. This could be prepared well in advance of the 
date of use; and, if widely circulated, would greatly assist 
untrained officers to effect training in worship. Possibly 
such material might be included in a periodical for teach- 
ers, where such are available. 

(f) Materials for adults and parents’ classes ——For 
adults and parents’ classes particularly there is almost 
nothing. “El Hogar Cristiano,’ “El Hogar Social,’ 


116 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


“Fl Hogar Higienico,” are practically the only books 
available in this field, written from a distinctively Chris- 
tian standpoint. The books listed below for young people 
would, of course, be of interest to adults as well. The 
desirability of special literature for parents in the adult 
classes is emphasized in several statements. 

(g) Material for young people's groups—For state- 
ments of need see the preceding section. Books now 
available in Spanish for use in young people’s and adult 
classes are: La Personalidad Divina del Maestro, H. E. 
Fosdick; El Evangélio de San Juan, Robert E. Speer; 
Principios Basicos de la Civilizact6n Moderno, Julio Na- 
varro Monzdé; Factores Personales en la Vida Crsstiana, 
W. D. Weatherford; Principios Sociales de Jesus, D, R. 
Edwards. Several excellent books are in the course of 
translation and preparation. 

(h) Special story matersal for children and youth.— 
The report of the Commission on Christian Literature 
will undoubtedly show a number of papers for children 
issued in different parts of the Latin-American field. The 
Commission on Religious Education would urge the devel- 
opment of this literature. It is needed not only to displace 
much unwholesome and pernicious literature, but as an 
important character-building influence. Measures should 
be taken to avoid duplication and to secure economical 
production; these, however, are best considered by the 
Commission on Literature. 

(1) Materials for training leaders——On this topic see 
pages 131-132. 

(j) Problems of production and distributton.—Where 
the problems of literature production, marketing, and sale 
are referred to in reports received by this Commission, 
the data given have been referred to the Commission on 
Literature. 

(k) General recommendations.—It is apparent that 
there is a real question as to whether any of the trans- 
lated courses meet the need. Better materials of religious 
education and a comprehensive curriculum are also de- 
manded. Much more is needed than is now at hand. On 
the other hand, in the newer conception of the curriculum 
no final formal set of lessons can be prepared. ‘Those 


PROBLEMS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 117 


charged with curriculum-making in North American 
Sunday-schools, after having finished the graded lessons, 
supposedly pedagogically sound and complete, are now re- 
studying the whole problem and attempting to integrate 
instruction and activity, present environment and experi- 
ence of the past. Not only should the leaders in religious 
education in South America take advantage of experi- 
mentation in the United States and elsewhere, but they 
should, on the basis of the newer results of experimental 
education, become themselves contributory to the con- 
tinual process of making and re-making curricula. 

So far as the Commission knows, no group of persons 
is systematically at work upon the problems of curriculum 
creation for Latin-American local churches. Jt 1s recom- 
mended that a commission on curriculum and materials, 
identical perhaps with that on program, be established by 
the Congress, this commission to re-examine the curricu- 
lum and materials for religious education in the local 
church and to establish two programs for the production 
of materials; the first to consist, as far as possible, of 
existing materials as a curriculum for existing agencies 
of religious education, producing only such supplementary 
material as necessary ; the second, on the basis of the con- 
clusions to be reached by the commission on program, 
being the plan of a new and more comprehensive curricu- 
lum giving full recognition to the importance of training 
and worship and to the activities of Christian service, in- 
cluding these phases of religious education as definitely 
as the purely instructional phase. 


3. The Local Church and Its Conception of Its Task. 


A major problem to be faced in the entire development 
of religious education in South America is the reported 
indifference at many points and discouragement at others 
in reference to effective religious education. The quota- 
tions in earlier sections stresses this very strongly. An- 
other phase of this attitude appears in the following 
statement: 

“Tt has been very hard to get our people to recognize 
the importance of a program toward which to work, the 
feeling always being that because our schools or congre- 


118 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


gations are small, therefore, the fundamental principles 
governing the teaching of religion or the organization of 
the school cannot be worked out.” (River Plate) 

Unless the local church, pastor and members, are truly 
concerned about the religious education of the children 
and young people of the church the liberal Evangelical 
movement in Latin America can never make to Latin 
American life the contribution which it should rightfully 
make nor effectively develop as a church. 

This very serious problem must be solved by the leader- 
ship of the churches. The denominational bodies and the 
leaders of the public opinion in the churches are the per- 
sons upon whom the responsibility for changing these atti- 
tudes must in the first instance rest. In the local church 
the key person is the pastor and, in the long run, the key 
to the pastor is the theological seminary. 

Something undoubtedly can be done by supplying pas- 
tors and other leaders with the most stimulating literature 
on religious education, periodicals and books produced in 
North America and Great Britain. Some _ provision 
should be made for this by the denominational boards. 
More adequate measures should be devised. 


VI. Reticious EpucATION IN THE HOME. 


No other center of human activity contains the oppor- 
tunities and the power for character-formation possessed 
by the home. Where other agencies exercise greater in- 
fluence the home itself has not lived up to its opportunities. 

Christ “ glorifies the relations of the family by making 
them the figure by which men may understand the highest 
relations of life. He speaks more of fatherhood and son- 
ship than of any other relations. He gives directions for 
living, using the family terms of brotherhood. . . . He 
teaches men when they think of God and when they ad- 
dress Him to take the family attitude and call Him 
Father.” Christianity hopes to solve the world’s ills, “ not 
by external regulations, but by bringing all men into a 
new family life . . . with God, so securing a new per- 
sonal environment, a new personality as the center and 
root of all social betterment.” The family exists, “ not 
for economic purposes of food and shelter, not for per- 


—oOo > 


RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE HOME 119 


sonal ends of passion and pride, but for spiritual purpose, 
for the growth of persons, especially the young in the 
home, in character, into ‘the measure of the stature of 
the fulness of Christ.’”® 

(a) The actual promotion of home tratning—‘ So far 
this consists in occasional sermons on the duties of parents 
and effort at home study of Sunday-school lessons by 
pupils and by Home Department members. A few 
primary teachers hold occasional mothers’ meetings.” 
(Brazil) 

“ Religious education at home has been promoted strongly 
through adult attendance at Sunday-school, and organizations 
of church women. Campaigns fostering family religion and 
the family altar have considerable success. However, we 
have just begun. As yet parents cooperate very little in the 
work of the Sunday-school or any other agency.” (Chile) 

“A number of the larger and best organized Sunday- 
schools are striving to link up the home more intimately with 
the Sunday-school children of that home. In many schools 
a Home Department endeavors to secure study during the 
week by its members. Our pastors preach occasionally on the 
importance of the home and parental responsibility. The 
observance during the last two or three years of Mother’s 
Day awakened much interest in problems related to the home. 
During the Centenary Campaign of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, an important item of the program was establishing 
the custom of family worship in each home. In this way, 
the conscience and the sense of responsibility of the parents 
was stirred.” (River Plate) 

“As the fine young people in the churches now marry, 
there is great opportunity to stress the family altar, studying 
the Bible together, and education of their children. This is 
being done to some extent.” (Venezuela) 


(b) The problems to be solved—(1) The stirring of 
a sense of responsibility is a prominent need. Brazil puts 
it first. Argentina and Uruguay report “the greatest 
difficulty in getting Christian workers to see the impor- 


5 Cope, H. F., Religious Education in the Family, pp. 42, 43. 


120 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


tance of visitation of homes.” “A most urgent problem 
before the Evangelical churches is the awakening of the 
home to its responsibility.” ‘Our main effort,” writes 
the Chile committee, “ should be to secure faithful study 
and use of plans and helps now in circulation.” 

(2) More and better literature is stressed. “ Literature 
is needed to suggest workable plans for local churches.” 
“Literature and discussions are needed to help pastors, 
Sunday-school superintendents, and teachers, also for 
parents and older children to use in the home.” (Brazil) 
“There is a great need of literature helpful and inspiring 
to fathers and mothers.” (Argentine, Uruguay). “ Much 
litegature has been produced,” but “there is still need of 
better.” (Chile) 

(3) A systematic and coordinated program is urged in 
several statements. 

(c) Suggestions and solutions—(1) That in the study 
of the program of the local church recommended on page 
25, there be included specific suggestions for stimulating 
effective religious education in the home. 

(2) That some central agency, specified by the Con- 
gress, assemble data upon the various plans and cam- 
paigns already tried and distribute this widely among 

pastors, leaders, and workers. 
| (3) That in the courses on pastoral work in the theo- 
logical schools and training schools and in the pastors’ 
conferences, renewed attention be given to the ways 
church workers can help to develop Christian homes. 

(4) That some central group assemble the existing 
material and supplement it by arranging for full ex- 
change of knowledge as to what exists. The possibilities 
of a variety of leaflet literature widely distributed from 
dispensaries, and other centers should be considered. 
“We feel that a special course for the training of mothers 
and fathers, prepared and given in our Sunday-schools 
or in special week night classes, might do much good.” 
(River Plate) 

(5) It is urged that all leaders, pastors, and church 
members give special thought and study to the teaching of 
Jesus concerning the family and the significance He 
gave it. 





IN DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOLS 121 


VII. Reticious EpUCATION IN DAY AND BOARDING 
SCHOOLS. 


Three types of day and boarding schools concern the 
constituency of the Congress: (1) parochial schools, at- 
tached to the local church and maintained by it,—wide- 
spread in Brazil, well known in Chile, but less frequent 
in Argentina and Uruguay; (2) mission schools sup- 
ported by mission Boards, usually for children of believ- 
ers; (3) schools and colleges, usually supported by 
mission Boards, recruiting pupils largely from families 
of well-to-do liberals or Catholics. Brazil reports that in 
the first two types daily Bible study prevails, and that in 
the third the practice varies greatly. “ Most schools that 
receive pupils in early childhood and keep them into 
adolescence give a fairly thorough course of Bible teach- 
ing, usually having their boarding pupils in Sunday- 
school as well. Where pupils are received during 
adolescence it is more difficult to adapt and apply Bible 
teaching to their needs.” ‘These statements would prob- 
ably apply accurately throughout Latin America. 


1. The Opportunity of the Day and Boarding Schools for 
Character-Education, 


“Christian schools and colleges offer an opportunity 
for religious education that cannot be excelled. The daily 
hour of religious instruction affords much longer time 
than is available in the Sunday-school. The common 
worship of the school, rightly used, may be made an in- 
valuable training in habits of devotion. The whole of 
the class-work and the hours of play are rich in oppor- 
tunities of exemplifying and interpreting Christian living. 
Above all it is possible in such institutions, if the staff 
and a sufficient proportion of the students are Christian, 
to realize the life of a Christian society devoted to the 
service of the kingdom of God, which through its uncon- 
scious and contagious influence is the most powerful of all 
forces in the shaping of Christian character.” ® 


es H. Oldham, International Review of Missions, Oct., 1924. 
p. 514. 


122 - RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


2. What Are the Problems? 


Brazil reports them: (a) for the second type of school 
—‘acceptance of best ideals, methods and objectives; 
standardization ; adequate supervision”; (b) for the third 
type—“ right leadership; a well studied program of re- 
ligious teaching in school and home and pervading the 
life of the institution.” ‘“ We are not beginning to 
make full use of the splendid opportunities furnished in 
our day and boarding schools. The difficulty lies mainly 
with a lack of suitable courses, and also the lack of 
special training on the part of directors and teachers.” 
(River Plate) 


“The Evangelical day and boarding schools in Chile were 
begun under difficulties. Compelled to secure their major 
support from their work they catered to the class of people 
who could afford to pay well. To hold this patronage, the 
schools in some cases had to forego direct religious instruc- 
tion. That day has passed. No longer must we camouflage 
religious education to hold our paying pupils. Unfortunately 
our school workers were not all quick and eager to put relig- 
ious education into its proper place in the curriculum. Ob- 
jections are numerous; most of them come down to a short- 
age of teachers, and the difficulty of adding to a crowded 
curriculum. Nevertheless our school workers see more and 
more clearly the need for a definite system of religious edu- 
cation through the entire school course.” “ The missionary 
teachers in these schools are usually well prepared to teach 
courses in religious education. Unfortunately their work is 
so heavy in most schools that the faculty hesitates to burden 
them further.” (Chile) 


The need for a comprehensive curriculum is also 
stressed. 
A correspondent writes: 


“Certain difficulties hinder the full realization of our 
ideals. The first is the lack of suitable textbooks in Spanish. 
It would be much easier for me and much better for my stu- 
dents, if each had a textbook in his own language. The 





IN DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOLS 123 


second difficulty is the lack of a constructive program of 
service to present to the boys along with our theory of ser- 
vice. For instance, if we could show the boys some real 
Christian work along: social lines that needed to be done and 
could guide them in doing it, it would give a concreteness to 
our work that nothing else would give and would really 
develop them into the Christian and social leaders that we so 
much desire. The third great difficulty is bringing our boys 
into some sort of Christian organization. In some way or 
other it must be solved, if we are to realize the greatest 
spiritual and moral dividends from our mission schools. 
There is more than one reason why our boys are not attracted 
to our Evangelical churches as they exist today. These 
churches are small and unattractive in many cases, yet to me 
this is not the real barrier. The most outstanding barrier 
between our boys and the average Evangelical church is the 
difference in religious viewpoint.” 


3. Objections from the State or the Community. 

“No obstruction from the State will develop against 
the systematic teaching of religion. Objection is some- 
times made by parents who are unbelievers or Roman 
Catholics. The policy in all our schools is that of firmly 
insisting that all pupils should attend the Bible study 
classes. Rarely, if ever, do parents withdraw their chil- 
dren from our schools because of this.” (River Plate) 
Brazil confirms this and adds, “If the teaching be done 
in a kindly way, using a constructive, expository method 
instead of the polemic and antagonistic method, the 
teacher will find in almost every case an open mind and 
appreciative spirit.”. For Chile there is no legal obstacle. 
“The state school requirements for primary instruction 
include sacred history, morals, and. catechism, but without 
examination. ‘These courses are prepared under the di- 
rection of the established Church and frequently taught 
by Roman Catholic priests. In secondary schools the 
course in religion is optional. In our schools we may do 
as we prefer.” 


4,.W orship in the School Program. | 
“Daily or frequent services of worship.in the schools 


124 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


can very well supplement the studious part of religious 
development. It should not become a preaching service 
for the school director, nor an uninteresting monotonous 
exercise. Large student responsibility should be secured 
for these services. The matter of attendance might well 
be referred to a student council, but where that is not 
possible attendance should be required.” (Chile) 

The Brazil and River Plate reports concur in empha- 
sizing the importance of sincere and real services of 
worship. 


5. Relations with the Local Sunday-school. 


“Frequently boarding schools arrange for capable 
pupils to aid in the Sunday-school of the local church, at 
times supplying workers for as many as seven or more 
branch Sunday-schools.” (Brazil) ‘ Such religious edu- 
cation work should become the laboratory where the 
older school pupils practice teaching, organizing and 
directing.” (Chile) Brazil notes also the service of 
the trained day school teachers in training Sunday-school 
teachers. 


6. The Sunday Program of Parochial, Day, and Boarding 
Schools. 


In a previous section it was urged that where it was 
found that pupils receiving week-day religious instruction 
are in the same Sunday-school with those who are not, the 
two groups be separated. The Sunday program for the 
first group of pupils is of considerable importance. Brazil 
and Venezuela regard the Sunday-school as an oppor- 
tunity to complete the day school work by adding more 
courses of study. A different point of view is expressed 
from the River Plate committee, which sees the Sunday 
session as the opportunity for a fuller program of wor- 
ship training, and points out the value such schools might 
have as models. 

The Chile report states: 


“In the boarding schools, Sunday-schools are conducted. 
The type of Sunday-school is similar to that in the average 
church. So far as we know, there has been no serious at- 


IN DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOLS 125 


tempt to correlate the religious teaching in the regular school 
program with what the Sunday-school provides.” “ Where 
such a course [see 9 below] forms part of the curriculum the 
Sunday-school session could, in connection with it, either 
emphasize some phase receiving small attention during the 
week, such as the service of worship, song, prayer, Bible 
reading, etc., or continue the regular work of the course, 
reducing the work required during the week. Where there 
is no religious education in the curriculum, the Sunday-school 
should be graded and use the graded lessons and the school 
equipment, and should have the very best direction. Students 
should be given as much responsibility as possible, and from 
it should go out many youthful Sunday-school teachers every 
Sunday to help in the other Sunday-schools. Attendance at 
Sunday-school held in the school should be compulsory but 
attendance at Sunday-school held in other places should be 
voluntary.” (Chile) 


7. The Atmosphere of the School. 


“The atmosphere in our day and boarding schools should 
be deeply religious. The life and example of the teachers 
can do more for religion than any definite systematic study. 
In the teaching of other subjects, all truth can be shown to 
be God’s truth. If the atmosphere and the teaching is to be 
of this nature, it will be more than ever necessary that the 
teachers have definite religious experience.” (River Plate) 

“The life and character of the directors and teachers 
should commend the doctrines of God their Saviour in all 
things; all teachings should be made to have a religious 
character. All truth should lead up to Him who is the ‘ way, 
the truth and the life.” (Brazil) 

“The general life of mission schools and the teaching of 
other than religious subjects should all tend toward the 
development of Christian character.” (Venezuela) 

“The central aim of our day and boarding schools is to 
develop full rounded Christian character. It is possible to 
teach physics and geography so that the pupil never suspects 
that God is back of it all and it is just as possible to teach 
those subjects so that pupils are inspired by the way God 
works in this world.” (Chile) 


126 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
8. The Need of Specially Trained Teachers and Their 


Qualificatsons. 


The reports, with one exception, unanimously urge 
selection and special training. Brazil accurately states the 
consensus : 


“The teacher of the Bible or the guide of religious edu- 
cation in the school should be the easy equal of any member 
of the faculty ; and should, to special intellectual training, add 
the qualities of an attractive, winsome personality and an 
absorbing love to God and for the pupils. Shall we think it 
worth while to train teachers especially for science and not 
for the supreme science—that of life and of God? Let the 
Boards see that provision is made for this.” (Brazil) 

“Fither relieve the missionary teachers of other work,” 
urges Chile, “and allow them to teach religious education, 
or train other teachers, whose stay on the field may be more 
permanent, for this. Such teachers could be chosen from the 
older pupils and given normal training.” 


9. The Curricula for Religious Education in Day and 
Boarding Schools. 


“The religious education provided in our day and boarding 
schools ranges from the one state-required primary course of 
sacred history to a carefully graded course definitely placed 
in the curriculum and on a par with other courses as to sub- 
ject matter, text-books, and treatment. Some regular curric- 
ulum work is now being offered in a few schools with texts 
from the Abingdon Week Day Religious Education series 
and in one school the use of the ‘Gary’ lessons in several, 
classes. Possibly in the more advanced grades English texts 
could be used, but the advisability of teaching religious 
subjects in the language of the country is unquestioned.” 
(Chile) 

“One school in Brazil has a regular course of eleven years, , 
beginning with the memorizing of chosen Bible passages and 
hymns. Then the hearing and repeating of Bible stories, 
next a more formal study of the history of the New and Old 
Testaments, the prophecies and epistles, and in the last two 


IN DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOLS 127 


years, a study of the history of the spread of Christianity 
and of Comparative Religion.” (Brazil) 


There seems to be a unanimous opinion from the Re- 
gional committees that a fully developed and _ well- 
balanced system of religious education with graded teach- 
ing material should be mapped out. To those who know 
the situation outside of Latin America it is significant that 
this voice is one of many from countries all around the 
world expressing the same need and that such studies have 
been begun. Undoubtedly every national culture will have 
to solve many of its problems in religious education in its 
own way, yet great advantage will accrue if Latin America 
can join with others in their study. 

Both the needs and the methods of meeting them are 
brought out in the statements from the regional commit- 
tees, of which the following is representative : 


“The preparation of a religious educational curriculum for 
these schools should be undertaken under the direction of a 
commission appointed by the Committee on Cooperation in 
Latin America. After a close study of present curricula, 
presents aims with regard to future curricula, and an exami- 
nation of the most successful courses in week-day religious 
education now in use, such a commission could outline a well 
balanced graded system of religious education and assign the 
work of actual course preparation to capable persons ac- 
quainted with the peculiar background and needs of this 
field.” (Chile) 


It 1s therefore recommended to the Congress that a 
special commission, composed of a central committee with 
regional cooperation committees, assemble and examine 
-all of the curriculum materials for religious education in 
use in day and boarding schools in South America and, 
after study and counsel, report recommendations for 
criticism by the regional groups and teachers’ associations, 
these recommendations to outline an adequate program 
for religious education in day and boarding schools, 
which, after full criticism and reshaping, may be adopted 


“ 


128 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


and referred to the Committee on Cooperation for 
development. 


VIII. Tue Suprpty AND TRAINING OF LEADERS AND 
TEACHERS FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 


Outstanding above all other needs for effective re- 
ligious education in South America is the need for trained 
leaders and teachers. No one cry of urgency is more 
frequent and more emphatic. “The outstanding problem 
we face in Sunday-school and young people’s work is 
trained leaders.” (Chile) “ There is great need for lead- 
ers to promote the work in local churches, in denomina- 
tions, in communities, states, regions, etc.’”’ (Brazil) 


1. The Pastor and the Theological School. 

“The importance of inculcating in the pastors of tomor- 
row the new ideals of religious education cannot be over- 
emphasized. The pastor is the key man. The problems will 
never be solved until the interest and convictions of the 
pastor are captured, and more, until he is thoroughly trained 
to lead his people and organize the church in harmony with 
educational ideals. And yet, how often the curricula of our 
seminaries have been built without any reference to this 
outstanding fact!” (River Plate) 


The following statements indicate what is being done in 
the theological schools: 


“A group of theological seminary professors in Brazil 
recently resolved that all seminary graduates should com- 
plete a full three year teacher-training course for the dip- 
loma of the Sunday School Union, and so be prepared for 
leadership.” “The Union Theological Seminary in Buenos 
Aires has a two year course in religious education, the first 
year having a text-book, Professor Weigle’s ‘The Pupil and 
the Teacher,’ and the second year, Professor Coe’s ‘ Educa- 
tion in Religion and Morals.’ Every theological student is 
obliged to work in some church. Thus he works out prac- 
tically the theories learned in class.” (River Plate) 

“In the Union Theological School, Santiago, provision is 
made for one course in religious education, The religious 


TRAINING OF LEADERS AND TEACHERS 129 


education course in theological schools generally has been 
mostly theoretical, simple psychology or pedagogy, but of 
teaching methods, organization, problems of finance, social 
and recreational leadership, singing, etc., etc., there is alto- 
gether too little.” (Chile) 


As to texts and courses, Brazil seems to be fairly well 
supplied with texts, but the Spanish seminaries are less 
fortunate and much has to be given in lectures. This 
problem must be studied. 

Among the recommendations for meeting the unsatis- 
factory conditions are the use of regional and district 
pastors’ conferences for training and study of actual prob- 
lems, but only a direct meeting of the need in the semi- 
naries will be permanently adequate. Jt 1s urged upon all 
responsible for the staff and curricula of theological 
schools in South America that provision be made in every 
school for at least one member of the faculty on full time 
to teach courses training future pastors as effective lead- 
ers of relsgious education and to supervise closely regular 
practice work. 


2. The Training of Church Workers and the Bible Train- 
ing Schools. 


The pastor’s assistant, the deaconess, or other trained 
church worker is invaluable in assisting in religious edu- 
cation in the local church. The agencies which train such 
workers have, next to giving them their own thorough 
religious education, no finer thing to do than to train them 
to carry on the religious education of others. 

From the data at hand the situation seems no better 
here than in the seminaries. Any commission studying the 
training of leaders should certainly consider religious edu- 
cation in these schools. 


3. The Supply and Training of Leaders and Teachers in 
the Local Church, 

Sources to be drawn upon—“ Leadership training has 
been growing steadily but slowly in the local churches. As 
literature is prepared and is appreciated, growth will be 
more rapid. Through the National Association a uniform 


130 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


course of study has been undertaken for all Sunday-school 
teachers in Chile. The denominations urge the local 
churches, first, to develop the weekly teachers’ meeting for 
lesson preparation and for special study; second, to establish 
at the Sunday-school hour a normal class of chosen young 
people to provide the school with future teachers.” (Chile) 

“Very little is being done in the local church to develop 
religious educational leadership. Much would be accom- 
plished if the older adolescents were set to work as teachers 
of small groups or as heads of the various departments of 
work in the young people’s societies. These organizations 
are their practice school. There should be ample room for 
spontaneity and self-originating activity. Our churches tend 
noticeably to’ place most church activities in the hands of 
older men and women. Confidence is lacking in the serious- 
ness and reliability of the youth. Teacher-training classes 
should be pushed more energetically. The results so far 
have been» very modest. In general, pastors and workers 
have been slow to perceive the importance of careful train- 
ing and thorough preparation of those who are to work with 
the children and young people.” (River Plate) 

Outside help—“‘ Some of our mission schools can furnish 
from among their students fairly well trained helpers for 
local Sunday-schools. These mission schools could very 
easily widen their Haan by doing much more of this.” 
(River Plate) | 


This would be the more effective, if the policy sug- 
gested below were adopted. 


“The mission and church schools of secondary grade 
should organize special courses for such training and require 
them for their students—candidates for the ministry and for 
other Christian work. Such training should be stressed in 
special courses offered in summer-schools. ‘The theological 
seminaries should offer annually special courses for elders, 
deacons, and Sunday-school workers who wish adequate 
preparation.” (Brazil) 


Institutes and summer conferences: 


“The institute idea is growing and should be greatly en- 


TRAINING OF LEADERS AND TEACHERS 131 


larged better to prepare young people for the Church’s task. 
A school of religious education during the summer has been 
projected, but the expense, the poverty of the average young 
Church member, and the frequent impossibility of their 
securing sufficient vacation for attendance has prevented 
realization.” (Chile) 

“The surest and quickest way to improve religious education 
would be to have trained workers set aside, either by an 
interdenominational body or by the denominatious in coop- 
eration, to devote time to producing teaching material, both 
for pupils and for teacher-training, and to organizing con- 
ventions and conferences. Good volunteer help is available. 
Sustained direction will make it more efficient.” (Chile) 


The Brazil Union reports holding three institutes a 
year, where they should hold five. “ Leadership training 
camps, summer schools and institutes are very necessary. 
The Union is anxious to develop this type of work, but 
lacks funds. It is considering using in institutes and 
summer school work seminary students trained in these 
subjects. Summer schools for the special training of 
these men and of pastors are a part of the plan.” 

Laterature-—The materials for training are gradually 
increasing, and several excellent texts are now available. 
Through the Committee on Cooperation this literature 
can be made available in all parts of the Spanish-speaking 
world. Every title should be stocked in every literature 
deposit in Latin America. As specific texts for teacher 
training: 


El Primer Curso para Insiructores, A, A. Brown. 

Curso Preparatorio para los Maestros, Weigle-Winchester- 
Athearn. | 

El Nueva Manual Normal, Spilman-Leavell-Burroughs. 


Supplementing these texts: 


El Estudio del Nifto, Kirkpatrick. 
Nuestras Nifias, Margaret Slattery. 
La Adolescente, Margarita Evard. | 
El Principiante, Alicia Jacobs. 


132 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


La Vida en su Proceso de Formacion, Barclay. 

Como Formar Hombres y Mujeres, Robinson. 

Pléticas con los Maestros de la Escuela Dominical, 
Margaret Slattery. 

Jesus, El Maestro Ideal, Marquis. 

Educacion Moral y Religiosa, G. A. Coe. 

Organizacion de la Escuela Dominical, A. G. Axtel. 

Problemas y Métodos de la Escuela Dominical, Charles 
Roads. 


In Portuguese, Brazil has the largest assortment in 
South America: for texts—adaptation of Oliver’s “ Pre- 
paration for Teaching ”; for books—‘‘ How to Teach Re- 
ligion” (Betts), ‘“ Learning and Teaching” (Sheridan 
and White); ‘‘ Organization and Administration of a 
Sunday School” (Cuninggim and North) ; “ Seven Laws 
of Teaching” (Gregory); “Talks with the Training 
Class”? (Slattery) ; and in preparation are “ Life in the 
Making” (Barclay); “Sunday School at Work” 
(Faris). There are also many leaflets. 

It 1s recommended that the Commission suggested on 
p. 117 study the present programs of leader training and 
the avatlable literature and shape a body of suggestions 
for the common advantage of the national associattons and 
the denominational agencies. 


IX. Tur EXTENSION OF SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES 
THROUGH EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 


The educational agencies studied in this report do not 
seek primarily to reach more and more pupils. Their 
work is intensive rather than extensive. Yet, in several 
instances, they afford significant opportunities for exten- 
sion. Somehow those whose Master loved little children 
as no other spiritual leader ever did, must ward off evil 
influences and open freely to all children their rightful 
heritage of wonderful living in the family of God, their 
and our Father. 


1. The Church’s Loss in Its Own Constituency. 


First, are the churches reaching and holding those 
already in their constituency? In Brazil “for the most 


EXTENSION OF SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES 133 


part the children of the local churches are receiving such 
religious educational opportunities as the churches afford.” 
But in Chile, though “the Sunday-school reaches most of 
the children in the Church constituency, at least during 
their younger days, unfortunately it fails to pass them 
into the Church when the time comes. This is the 
largest loss in our work.” Argentina corroborates this 
emphatically : 


“It is a curious though painful fact, that all the children 
of our church constituency are not being reached by religious 
education. As in the church in North America, if we did 
nothing else but hold our own children, the church’s growth 
would be most satisfactory. There are too frequently parents 
in the church whose children are not being touched by the 
gospel. No problem needs more prayerful attention than this 
indifference to the church on the part of many young people 
whose families are connected with it. There is no problem 
of this nature with the younger children; the loss of this 
young life occurs in the middle adolescence. The causes are 
untrained leadership and lack of lesson material that can 
grip the attention of the young people, but much more, the 
failure of the home.” 


This common and serious situation must be energet- 
ically met. Measures have already been suggested: em- 
phasis upon Christian living rather than knowledge alone; 
correlation of the Sunday-school and the young people’s 
societies and extension of the latter; adoption of a pro- 
gram that recognizes as a proper and potential character- 
making opportunity the young people’s interest in recre- 
ation, in action, and in group activity. A commentator 
remarks: ‘‘ The influence of the group probably is more 
responsible for the loss mentioned above than the ‘ failure 
of the home.’ The churches should provide Christian 
associations in organized groups.” 


“ By making our Sunday-schools more attractive and better 
conducted, by using the Daily Vacation Bible School plan of 
work, by providing time, space, and leadership for play, 
without diminishing the religious teaching or the emphatic 


184 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


Protestant note, our Sunday-schools could double their num- 
bers and quadruple their influence for righteousness.” (Chile) 


In general, the churches delay admitting children into 
full membership until twelve or fifteen years of age. 
It would be more fruitful to do this between the ages of 
eleven and fourteen. 


2. The Ptoneer Sunday School. 


The pioneer Sunday-school offers the most simple and 
promising possibilities in reaching children who are un- 
‘touched by active religious influence. 


“Given a suitable hall nothing is easier than securing a 
group of children. The announcement of an illustrated lec- 
ture will draw them immediately. This we find the. most 
satisfactory way of forming a nucleus for a Sunday-school. 
Usually pictures of the life of Christ or illustrating Bible 
stories and parables are used, Bright and attractive methods 
easily maintain the interest of these new scholars. Some- 
times bigoted parents discover their children attending a 
Protestant Sunday-school, and then, in all likelihood, we lose 
the children. But in seven cases out of ten, the parents are 
completely indifferent to the religious instruction received by 
their children. Nor.do they care very much whether they 
receive any. Splendid results could be had by encouraging 
more of our Protestant families to open little Sunday-schools 
in their homes, where the children of the neighborhood could 
gather and a movement be started which in the majority of 
cases, would result in a congregation in the neighborhood. 
During the process, these small Sunday-schools could be 
linked to the nearest church and become a feeder to that 
congregation. The stronger churches or the Sunday School 
Associations might well have a fund to meet the original 
outlay necessary for literature, song books, blackboards, etc.” 
(Brazil) 


3. The Branch School. 


Little need be added here except to emphasize the great 
possibilities of the branch schools as agencies of exten- 
sion. Where the parent church or nearby secondary 





EXTENSION OF SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES 135 


boarding schools can furnish leadership, the branch 
schools can be most effective, reaching many groups of 
children who could not be reached by the main school. 
Extension, however, should not be permitted to lower the 
quality of the educational work. 


4. The Daily Vacation Bible School. 


The Daily Vacation Bible School (more fully dis- 
cussed on page 42) can be of unusual service in ex- 
tension work, since the high proportion of children who 
are not in school at all means, so to speak, considerable 
vacation time. One of the types of program of these 
schools would be particularly useful for the week-day 
session of a pioneer or branch Sunday-school, or as a 
week-day parallel for such a Sunday-school in reaching 
into the community. 


5. Bible Study Classes Without Church A ffiltation. 

Many South Americans to whom the thought of the 
church, Protestant and Catholic, is obnoxious are yet in- 
terested in studying the Bible. A South American cor- 
respondent suggests the “ intensification in Latin America 
of the work of the Sunday-schools drawn away as far. as. 
possible from the churches to other centers, such as 
schools and private houses, etc., in order to insure that 
they will not be centers of sectarian propaganda, but 
points from which knowledge of the Gospels and of the 
Bible will be diffused.” 

Separation of the existing schools from the churches 
might be debatable, but Bible study classes for adults in 
particular, kept quite distinct from the other work of the 
churches, might bear very remarkable fruit. There are 
significant parallels in Germany and England in the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Given a wise and 
sincere leadership, such centers could be formed in natural 
groupings of people; e. g., a group of friends in a neigh- 
bor’s house, a group of workmen in a shop, or sales people 
and clerks in a store. The correspondent referred to 
above suggests also the possibilities of religious fraterni- 
ties. He also recommends that there be implanted in 
Latin America “that most interesting development, the 


136 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


work of the adult school movement of Great Britain with 
its methods of high grade religious education by lay con- 
ference.” Undoubtedly there are great possibilities in 
these suggestions. 


X. ALLIED AND NEw AGENCIES. 


Other agencies, which are or may be contributory to a 
liberal spiritual education in South America, must not be 
overlooked here. 


1. The Young Men’s and the Young Women’s Christian 
Association. 


These Associations have a peculiar opportunity in im- 
pressing moral principles upon young people through 
games, hikes, and competitive sporting events. Latin 
educators have recently recognized the educational value 
in principles of fair play, of being “good losers,” of ac- 
cepting defeat with grace, of team play, where the indi- 
vidual must sacrifice himself for the success of the group. 
The value of the open air, of the study of nature, of the 
spirit of exploration and of self-reliance can be best 
taught in actual camping and tramping under trained 
Christian leadership, such as the Associations furnish. In 
competitive sports, where often rowdyism, dishonest 
methods, and gambling have prevailed, the Association 
teams have introduced an entirely new spirit, which has 
had wide morai influence among the youth of the com- 
munity. In voluntary classes in Bible study, in the study 
of life problems and in vocational classes the Associations 
have found a large avenue for religious education. 


2. The Daily Vacation Bible School. 


This is a new educational agency of very recent origin, 
but of many possibilities. Brazil and Venezuela report 
that it has not yet been tried there. “In Argentina and 
Uruguay so far only two churches have commenced this 
work. It is hoped that these vacation activities will be 
greatly stimulated by interesting the parochial school in 
such plans.” In Chile “the Daily Vacation Bible School 
has been tried and found practicable. Material hereto- 
fore totally lacking in Spanish is slowly being prepared. 


ALLIED AND NEW AGENCIES 137 


Enough is now ready for beginning work. Teachers have 
still to be prepared.” 

(a) Its working plan—In the United States, where 
these vacation schools have had their greatest develop- 
ment, there are two forms differing slightly: the vacation 
religious day school and the daily vacation Bible school. 
Fundamentally they are the same. In many instances 
such schools are conducted interdenominationally. The 
teachers and leaders are often young people who give their 
time during their vacations. 

The essential difference between the daily vacation 
school and the Sunday-school, apart from the days of 
the week and time of year in which they are held, lies in 
the program of work. While this is far from being 
stereotyped, yet its main features consist in the combina- 
tion of worship, music, story-telling or dramatic work, 
expressional activities of many varieties, particularly 
handicraft, and recreation. 

Considerable flexibility may be used in shaping the pro- 
gram, provided sound principles are followed. Generally 
the pupils should be formed into at least three groups: 
ages four to five, six to eight, nine to eleven. A single 
skilled teacher with helpers can handle such a combination. 

(b) The vacation school in South America.—Several 
possibilities appear: (1) It may be distinctively a vacation 
school, introduced into the scheme of a parochial day 
school for freer character-forming activity than the rigid 
state-directed curriculum permits. (2) It may be a vaca- 
tion school, conducted in vacation time by a local church 
or Sunday-school or by individuals, without relation to 
other educational work done by them, but simply drawing 
in children and youth who are on vacation from state or 
other schools. (3) It may, on either a daily or twice or 
three-times-a-week schedule, serve as a week-day program 
of the Sunday or church school and enrol the same chil- 
dren for its activities and continue throughout the year, 
ceasing to be distinctively a vacation school. It would 
then become a valuable educational aid to the local church 
where a parochial school is inadvisable or impracticable or 
where large numbers of children are without any educa- 
tional advantages. Under these circumstances might be 


138 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


introduced instruction in reading and writing by one of the 
modern rapid methods. Such a school would not, of 
course, attempt to meet the educational regulations of the 
state for recognition, but simply serve as a practical emer- 
gency measure to meet the serious illiteracy and as a char- 
acter-building agency of no small effectiveness. (4) The 
daily vacation Bible school program is suggestive for the 
whole religious education work of a local church. This 
has already been touched upon. A fifth possibility is in 
connection with a pioneer Sunday-schood or as an agency 
of character-training extension in and of itself. 


3. The Boy Scout Movement. 


Reports do not indicate that the churches in South 
America are related to the Boy Scout movement, except 
in two instances in the River Plate region. Inquiry shows, 
however, that there has been some development under 
national and under Evangelical auspices. It is also stated 
that the scouts in South America are generally either 
hiking clubs, or sub-military organizations; and that the 
religious and character-building principles which were in 
the “foundation of the movement and which characterize 
the greater part of the Scout organizations across the 
world have been eliminated. When General Sir Baden- 
Powell, the world’s Chief Scout, was asked about this he 
said, “ Scouting with those elements left out is not scout- 
ing.” Inthe United States, when scouting was first intro- 
duced, two general organizations were started; one ad- 
hered to the original principles; the other added military 
features of a pronounced character.’ The latter eventually 
subsided, in spite of much advertising and prominence. 
The former has grown by leaps and bounds, both in extent 
and in character-building effectiveness. For so promising 
and wholesome a movement to fall to the militarists and 
for young boys to be taught the false glamors of military 
life is a misfortune. 

The Boy Scout Movement, rightly guided, is a helpful 
auxiliary agency to the church and, with proper leader- 
ship, can be effectively included in its work. But it is 
clearly out of the question for the churches to link up their 
boys’ clubs with the majority of Scout movements, which 


COOPERATION IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 1389 


are in most cases Sunday hiking clubs, more or less mili- 
taristic in character. Some adaptation of the general 
features of the Movement could be made which would 
permit its use in our churches. It might be advisable to 
create a commission to study this further. 


4. Girls Guides or Campfire Girls. 


Practically the same is to be said with reference to the 
girls’ organizations that has just been said of the Scouts. 
Here is a valuable lead which ought to be followed. 


XI. CoopERATION IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 


1. Existing Cooperative Efforts. 

(a) In Brazil the principal denominational organiza- 
tions promoting religious educational work are: the Bap- 
tist Church’s Sunday School and Young People’s Board, 
with general direction of all the work in these depart- 
ments; the Methodist Church’s committees on Sunday- 
schools and on the Epworth League; and the Presbyterian 
Church’s committee on religious education; other denomi- 
nations have usually some committee in general oversight 
over these branches. 


“Two interdenominational organizations exist: the Brazil 
Sunday School Union and the National Christian Endeavor 
Union; the former having a well equipped headquarters and 
paid staff of workers, the latter being under the active direc- 
tion of volunteer leaders. Both of these organizations seek 
to be representative of the affairs of the cooperating bodies. 
The Sunday School Union has secured active cooperation of 
practically all denominations working in Brazil except the 
Baptist Church. The Union’s Executive Committee to which 
the cooperating denominations appoint official representa- 
tives, controls the affairs of the Union under the general 
direction of the World’s Sunday School Association which 
at the present contibutes the sum of $5,500.00 per year. 
Local gifts added about $1,500.00 in 1923. It is the Union’s 
purpose not to limit its efforts simply to promoting Sunday- 
school work, but to include the field of religious education in 
general. The Christian Endeavor Union receives slight if 
any financial support outside of the national field. It oper- 


140 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


ates almost exclusively within the Presbyterian and Congre- 
gational Churches. Both organizations could do much more 
effective work, if more adequately financed, particularly in 
holding training schools, summer camps, and in the 
production of literature. 

“The Evangelical University Federation, a federation of 
the Presbyterian and Methodist schools of secondary and 
professional grade, with oversight of those of lower grades 
is making special study of the means and methods needed to 
intensify the spiritual influence of the schools and to perfect 
the organization of instruction for religious education.” 
(Brazil) 


(b) In Chile the outstanding attempt at interdenomina- 
tional organization for religious education has been the 
formation of the National Sunday School Association, 
directly connected with the World’s Sunday School As- 
sociation. Its first year has seen the preparation of plans 
of work, the realization of three regional conventions, and 
the arousing of general interest in the common task. It 
needs an active full time Executive Secretary. Hereto- 
fore, the World’s Association has been providing half the 
time of Rev. George P. Howard, of Buenos Aires, for 
Sunday-school work in all Spanish South America. 
Manifestly any one in such a position cannot give much 
detailed attention to each field, and as a result the inter- 
denominational work in Chile has suffered. 


“The Methodist Church has had a Sunday-school worker 
on the field for Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay and Argen- 
tina for four years, with some funds for literature prepa- 
ration. He has not limited his activities to Methodist 
work, but his field has been too extensive to permit much 
intensive interdenominational service. The Christian Alli- 
ance has recently brought down a Sunday-school specialist 
for its churches. 

“In Chile, the National Association embodies national 
ideals, and, being supported nationally, should stand a much 
better chance of securing cooperation than would any foreign 
organization. It needs more whole-hearted support by 
missionaries and national workers.” 


COOPERATION IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 141 


(c) In the River Plate region—In the Argentine, the 
National Sunday School Association has representatives 
from all the denominations except the Southern Baptists. 
It holds conventions and institutes and, at stated inter- 
vals, a special course of lectures. 


“It has actively promoted the celebration of special days 
in the Sunday-school, such as Mother’s Day, Rally Day and 
Decision Day. About eighty Sunday-schools are affiliated 
and contribute an annual donation. The World’s Sunday 
School Association contributes through a secretary with al- 
lowance for travel and literature. Every winter for four 
years in some central church in Buenos Aires, a course of 
nine lectures is given on Sunday-school work. The response 
has been very gratifying, attendance never falling below 8o. 
A certificate is given to those who complete the course satis- 
factorily. The hope is that this will eventually grow into a 
city institute for training teachers. In 1924, Methodists, 
Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and Anglicans were represented 
on the faculty, and the program centered upon the adolescent 
problem. 

“ Under the auspices of the National Association, institutes 
are held in the different provinces and the hope is that 
eventually provincial associations will be formed. These 
institutes, which bring about the visitation of the interior of 
the country by denominational leaders from the large centers, 
should be held more frequently. Closer contact between the 
large capital cities and the Evangelical work in the interior 
is needed. It is hard sometimes to realize the degree of 
isolation of the work in the provinces. 

“Cooperation has not been easy between the various 
denominations in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. But 
those most opposed to neighborliness and comity have been 
unable to resist a vital interest in youth and children which 
has led them to gather around the child with their brethren 
of other denominations.” 


2. What Can Cooperation Do to Stimulate Improved 
Means and Measures? 


“The interdenominational organizations should be in inti- 
mate contact with all denominational leaders, provide means 


142 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


for their occasional meeting in conference, and arrange for 
a general plan of conventions and of institute work, which 
will include all workers in given areas, and for all such 
promotional activities as may be deemed expedient in their 
contacts with the local organized Sunday-schools or societies. 

“One thing needed for the greater stimulation of improved 
methods of religious education is closer cooperation among 
the denominations in the unification of their work in all 
institutional enterprises,—such as those of education and 
publication, and especially the furtherance of the aims of the 
Union Seminary in Rio for the preparation of ministers and 
of religious workers in a more thorough manner than can be 
accomplished in small denominational institutions.” (Brazil) 

“ Possibly the several National Sunday School Associations 
of Spanish America could get together to work as a unit in 
such enterprises as Sunday-school lesson preparation, the 
publication of training texts, the preparation of day school 
curricula for religious education, the production of Daily 
Vacation Bible School material, etc. It would be stimulating 
for representatives of these associations to visit other coun- 
tries of the group, and help hold conventions and establish 
training schools. A Latin American Sunday School conven- 
tion could be worked out successfully through some such 
central committee.” (Chile) 


3. The Necessity of Genuine Cooperation. 


If the suggestions, made on page 109 and elsewhere, 
concerning a new program for religious education in 
the local church meet with favor and the program is 
built along the lines forecast in this report, changes will 
eventually be necessary in the present general promoting 
agencies. Two or more agencies cannot effectively pro- 
mote sections of a unified local program without the 
program soon ceasing to be unified. ‘The effort to shape 
a new program in other lands has all too often been 
blocked by the separateness of some of the “ overhead ” 
agencies. If this can be avoided in Latin America and 
all adhere fully to the common plan, great strides can 
be made in the strategy of spiritual education in Latin 
America. 


=e 


COOPERATION IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 1438 


4. The Relation of North American Agencies. 


The Committee on Cooperation in Latin America has 
recently appointed a Sunday School Committee for the 
purpose of promoting Sunday-school work in Latin 
America in cooperation with the World’s Sunday School 
Association and the several denominational, interdenomi- 
national or national Boards. It is provided that, when 
practicable, the executive officer of the World’s Sunday 
School Association shall be the chairman of this com- 
mittee. This committee, within the limitations of pro- 
cedure of the Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, 
has the general direction of the Sunday-school work of 
the Sunday School secretaries for Latin America, where 
such are loaned by mission Boards, and reports jointly to 
the World’s Sunday School Association and to the Com- 
mittee on Cooperation. 

The Committee on Cooperation and the World’s Sun- 
day School Association are also represented with the 
International Sunday School Lesson Committee, the 
Committee on Education of the International Council for 
Religious Education, and the Committee of Reference and 
Counsel of the Foreign Missions Conference of North 
America, on what is accurately described by its name 
“The Joint Advisory Committee on Methods and Ma- 
terials for Religious Education in Mission Fields.” It is 
not a financial organization, but seeks to make available 
on request the best experience in religious education in 
North America. Several members of this Joint Com- 
mittee have assisted in shaping this report. 


5. World Wide Cooperation. 


In concluding this section on cooperation it is worth 
while to remark that far and wide across the world prob- 
lems very like those considered in this report are being 
faced and studied. The last twelve months have seen a 
striking awakening of interest. In so imperative and vital 
a task as this ought not all we who owe allegiance to Him 
who draws all men to Him—and therefore together—be 
conscious of each other in thought, in common counsel 
and in prayer? 


144 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


XII. THe Major EMPHASES AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
OF THE REPORT. 

In summarizing, by way of conclusion, the major em- 
phases and recommendations of this report those who 
have shared in its preparation desire to offer two general 
observations. 

The first is that with the exception of the Roman Cath- 
olic background and tradition in the environment of most 
of the people of South America, and with the exception of 
the higher proportion of illiteracy which complicates some 
phases of the religious educational task, there is not an 
item in the problems and perplexities of the development 
of religious education in Latin America that is not present 
also in the more distinctively Protestant countries in ex- 
tensive and acute form. With the exceptions named and 
the problems incident to the smaller membership at present 
of the Evangelical body in Latin America the problems 
are fundamentally one and the same. In a number of 
respects the opportunity for developing a complete pro- 
gram of effective religious education is greater in South 
America than in North America. 

In the second place, the recommendations made may 
seem to call for more fundamental study of the whole 
program and curriculum of religious education than some 
will regard as necessary. But we would here record our 
conviction that now is the time for the Evangelical forces 
of Latin America so to lay the foundations for their 
future development that not only may be avoided the 
many misconceptions and erroneous policies that have 
been revealed in the history of religious education to the 
present time, but that in union and harmony there may 
be an adequate basis for the fullest possible development 
of these forces of character education, without which the 
establishment of truly great national cultures is impos- 
sible and without which the walls of the cities of the 
Kingdom of God cannot rise. 

To delay consideration of these fundamental matters is 
to wait until the necessary readjustments which such 
studies will show to be wise, will be far more difficult, if 
not impossible to make. The Evangelical churches of 
Latin America are now sufficiently numerous and suf- 


EMPHASES AND RECOMMENDATIONS 145 


ficiently developed so that their fundamental problems can 
be discovered and studied and yet they are near enough 
to their beginnings to make possible the necessary 
readjustments. 

The major recommendations and suggestions that have 
grown out of this inquiry are as follows: 

1. That all our agencies for education and for religious 
education seek to renew their consciousness of the impera- 
tive importance of their redemptive task and that to. that 
end they seek anew to bring educational objectives, ma- 
terials, methods, and themselves into the fullest harmony 
with the mind and spirit of Christ. “No more potent 
means of religious education exists than the sharing in the 
life of a society, whether it be family, church or school, 
that is permeated by the Christian spirit and is living and 
striving in forgetfulness of self for great Christian ends.” 
(See pages 86, 87.) 

2. That as far as possible the principle that educa- 
tion in the spiritual life is brought about fundamen- 
tally by activity in the spiritual life rather than by 
instruction concerning it be steadily brought into the 
controlling position in all educational work and plans. 
(See pages 87-90.) 

3. That a special commission make a thorough study of 
the program of religious education for all types of local 
churches, including the relation of week-day religious edu- 
cation to such a program, with a view to formulating 
comprehensive statements of a variety of programs suit- 
able for South America that can be made the basis of in- 
struction in theological schools and in schools for training 
church workers and of all the promotional activities of 
denominational and inter-denominational agencies. (See 
page 111.) 

4, That a special commission re-examine the curricula 
and materials for religious education in the local church 
and shape two programs for the production of materials ; 
first, shaping, as far as possible out of existing materials, 
a curriculum for the agencies of religious education as 
they now exist, producing such supplementary material as 
may be necessary; and, second, on the basis of the con- 
clusions to be reached by the commission suggested in the 


146 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


preceding item, designing a new and more comprehensive 
curriculum in which full recognition will be given to the 
importance of training in worship and of activities in 
Christian service, including material upon these phases of 
religious education as definitely as upon the purely in- 
structural phases.. (See page 117.) 

5. That some central agency assemble data upon the 
various plans and campaigns for stimulating religious edu- 
cation in the home and distribute this information widely ; 
that renewed attention be given, in theological and training 
schools and in pastors’ conferences, to the relation of the 
pastor and church .worker to the development of the 
Christian home; and that the literature found to be needed 
be prepared and referred to the Literature Committee of 
the Committee on Cooperation in Latin America for 
action ; that new attention be given by all to Christ’s teach- 
ing concerning the family. (See page 120.) 

6. That the commission suggested in items 3 and 4 
study the present programs of leadership training and the 
available literature and shape a body of suggestions for 
the common advantage of the National Associations and 
the denominational agencies. 

7. That a special commission, composed of a central 
committee with regional cooperating committees, assemble 
and examine all of the curriculum materials for religious 
education in use in day and boarding schools in South 
America and after study and counsel report recommenda- 
tions for criticism by the regional groups and teachers’ 
associations, these recommendations to outline an ade- 
quate program for religious education in day and boarding 
schools, which, after full criticism and reshaping, may be 
adopted and referred to the Committee on Cooperation 
for development. (See page 127.) 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 
I. PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT. 


Dr. W. C. BarcLay. 


The Report on Religious Education should not be assumed 
to be a complete report. It has been prepared with great 
care on the basis of reports from the field, supplemented in 
in the light of experience in North America. . Any such 
report, to be most valuable, must promote a process of re- 
vision and development, not merely in the light of the dis- 
cussions of such a Congress as this, but particularly through 
consultation and use on the field in the years ahead. Its 
significance is enhanced by the fact that it is a pioneer docu- 
ment. ‘This is the first time that religious education, as such, 
has been made the subject of a formal report in a Congress 
like this. 

Such a document as this cannot be thoroughly discussed in 
the time allowed. The speaker cannot do more than submit 
it for consideration, emphasizing briefly its ruling concepts, 
and at the same time raising certain questions concerning the 
application of the principles which it enunciates. | 

t. The Definition of Religious Education. We may think 
of religious education in either of two ways, in terms of the 
process, or in terms of the goals to be attained. In the first 
sense, religious education is a process by which religious 
experience is enriched and developed through self-expression, 
guidance in right choices and in conduct, worship, and 
cooperation in acquiring religiously significant knowledge. 
The goals or objectives of religious education are the devel- 
opment of Christian character, the continuous and progres- 
sive achieving of the ideals in the life and teachings of 
Jesus. It is the more abundant life which Jesus brought to 
the world,—a complete Christian life, which involves the 
Christian motive in the making of all life choices, conscious 
fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, an informed mind, 
an empowered will, and constructive contribution to a social 
order controlled by Christian principles. 

2. Principles Regulative in Religious Education. The 
principles thus defined are fully stated on pages 85-93, 


147 


148 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


inclusive, of the Report. Of these, there are two which 
deserve particular emphasis. If actually made controlling, 
they will revolutionize many of the practices which now pre- 
vail in religious education. 

(a) That the program of religious education should be 
pupil centered. It should take its beginning and find its end 
in the experience of the pupil. In the past, our programs 
have been very largely organization centered and material 
centered. It is not our primary task either to build up a 
religious institution or to teach subjects, not even to teach the 
Bible as such. Our task, first and last, has to do with per- 
sonality, or to use the term of the Report, with the develop- 
ment. of Christian character. 

(b) That the most educative process is actual participation. 
As teachers and leaders, our business is not to do something 
for our pupils; it is actually to initiate them into the pro- 
cesses of Christian living. Our pupils can only learn the 
Christian life, whether in its devotional aspects, its moral or 
social aspects by actually living the Christian life. Any one 
of us has only to recall his personal experience to realize 
that he learned the practise of prayer by praying. So with 
every other aspect of the Christian life. 

3. Religious education thus conceived is the great evangel- 
istic hope of the church. In fact it is evangelism. How 
long will it take the church to realize that the greatest 
evangelistic opportunity in South America, as on other mis- 
sion fields, is with the children and young people? We 
may have the children for the asking. They are every- 
where about us in all of these nations, multitudes of them, 
unclaimed and untaught. If we will open our doors to 
them and invite them, we may have them by the hundreds 
of thousands. If we mature and train them in the faith 
and life of Jesus Christ, through them we can build the 
Kingdom of Jesus Christ in these lands; and we can do it 
in no other way. 

4. Does religious education, as it prevails in our churches 
and schools, stand the tests implicit in the principles enunci- 
ated by this Report? Does it deserve the name religious 
education in that it actually educates in religion? Does it 
develop the mind of Christ in the pupils? Do they exhibit 
Christian motives in their choices and conduct? Do they 
have the power to do the right, as the right has been 
made known to them? Are they enlisted in building 
within their own groups a Christian society? Are they 
being led into fellowship with God? We have large num- 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 149 


bers of children in our Sunday-schools, our church day 
schools, and in our boarding schools. ‘To what extent are 
we succeeding in educating these children in the Christian 
religion ? 

5. Do we have the necessary resources for our task of 
religious education? Have we in this land a clearly and 
definitely formulated program of religious education? Or, 
can it be said with truth by our nationals, that the mission- 
aries have not supplied them with a definitely formulated 
program? Do we have the resources in trained teachers and 
leaders absolutely essential to the carrying out of a real 
program of religious education in these lands? Have we 
given attention to the problem of developing a home environ- 
ment for our pupils in which it shall be possible for them 
to live Christian lives? Do we have even the minimum 
literature necessary to carry out a program of religious 
education? What is required for the .pioneer type of 
Sunday-school as described in this Report? What is re- 
quired for the better organized school or for the fully organ- 
ized school? What are the first things to be done,—the 
immediate necessities for providing what is lacking? We 
should not, however, be content with considering immediate 
requirements. Let us consider the needs of a permanent as 
well as temporary program. What is it necessary to do 
today that we may have an adequate program ten years or 
twenty-five years from today? When we become clear in 
our judgment regarding the needs of the situation, the 
question then comes, how can these needs be met? The 
Report contains certain definite recommendations for the 
consideration of this Congress and of the Findings Com- 
mittee. Are these recommendations adequate? What 
changes should be made in them? ‘These are some of the 
important queries which the Congress may well consider 
with care. 


Il. Ture ImportaANcs oF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 


Dr. C. P. Hargraves, foreign superintendent of religious 
education of the M. E. Church, referred to the fact that in 
the great war, nations, nominally Christian, hurled them- 
selves at each other, and that even today the preparations 
for further war seem to continue. ‘The same attitude is 
maintained by labor and capital, the forces facing each other 
in an attitude of readiness for warfare. We, therefore, need 
today not only to preach Christ and to urge the adoption of 
Christianity, but to discover fresh ways of putting our 


150 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


brotherly love into practise. As Dr. Barclay has suggested, 
the successful method is through the training of children and 
young people. ‘The success of prohibition in North America 
was due to a generation of child instruction rather than to 
any sentiment-raising campaign. If we are gradually build- 
ing the mind of Christ into the character of our boys and 
girls, the social and political problems of the age can be 
wisely met. 


Rev. Professor Daniel J. Fleming, of the Union Theolog- 
ical Seminary, New York City, stated that a new profession 
has come into view. The habit of experimentation which 
characterized the investigation of the nineteenth century into 
the problems of nature has been transferred to the realm of 
mind, calling for similar methods of analysis and experi- 
mentation. Since 1900, wonderful advances have been made 
in education. There has been a true revolution in the teach- 
ing of secular subjects, and at the same time relatively 
similar advance in religious education. The religious educa- 
tion of today is based on a new psychology. Some regard it 
as a foe to Christian teaching. It is rather, however, a 
great ally in the teaching of Christianity. 

One clear distinction should be made between religious 
education and religious instruction. The latter is what goes 
on in the class room, the former includes the whole environ- 
ment. Any teacher with many years’ experience knows how 
easy it is to rely on religious instruction. We may multiply 
Bible classes or Sunday-school classes, but religion does not 
primarily consist in knowledge. Religious instruction has its 
most important place, but religious education takes into ac- 
count the education going on in each sort of environment 
also,—in the play field, in dormitories and in the home, ete. 
These we do not always have in mind, but they must figure 
to an important degree in actual practise. 


Rev. Daniel E. Hall, of Concordia, Argentine (M. E.), 
wished to call attention to three principles of religious edu- 
cation with which he was in hearty agreement. (1) That 
the process of religious education should be continuous from 
birth to the end of life. No person at any time is immune 
from instruction. However, one should grow continually. 
(2) A true religious life demands some form of expression. 
The child or youth learns to pray by praying. Whatever 
activity one fails to utilize becomes more or less atrophied. 
Such expression is given endless opportunity in solving the 
ordinary problems of the home or of the community. (3) 
The Sunday-school and work for young people should be 


} 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 151 


developed closely together. They are not two departments, 
but may well represent the various activities of the same 
group of young people. 

Rev. Alvaro Reis, of Rio, likened the church to an eagle 
whose wings are the Sunday-school and the young people’s 
society. The Sunday-school movement is little more than a 
century old, but has justified itself abundantly. Christ loved 
little children. The Sunday-school should take them in as 
soon as born and keep in touch with them in some form 
until death. The aged can be cared for by the home depart- 
ments. Some churches have classes which train men and 
women in expectation of parenthood. 

The critical period of life seems to be from twelve to 
fourteen years of age. ‘‘ For many years I have given much 
time and energy to a Bible class, but I would leave that at 
any time in order to study the children at this age and to 
minister to them.” 


Ill. Tur SunpDAy-scHOOL AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE’S 
SOCIETY. 

Mrs. Scott P. Hauser, of Santiago, Chile, superintendent 
of young people’s work for the M. E. Church, desired to say 
an added word regarding the relation of the young people’s 
societies and the Sunday-school, declaring that they were 
never to be regarded as rivals. They fitted together as mem- 
bers of one big family, both being needed for adequate edu- 
cational results. 

Our organizations strike against the handicap of having 
too little time available. One hour a week affords slight 
opportunity for training, and it seriously hinders the work 
of religious education. 

The chief defects of the Sunday-school, as usually handled, 
is that it gives no opportunity for expression, but this is 
exactly the opportunity which young people’s societies can 
give. Leaders and teachers are greatly needed by the 
Sunday-school. The young people’s societies ought to pro- 
duce these. In Chile, for the last six years, a summer insti- 
tute has been held, now interdenominational in organization, 
for the express purpose of this leadership training. 


IV. Meruop 1n ReLicious EpucatTion. 

President W. A. Waddell, of Brazil, after expressing his 
deep admiration for the extent and character of the Report, 
gave it as his judgment that in a general school, religious 
education should be taught exactly like any other subject and 


152 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


by the teacher of each grade. The employing of a special 
teacher for the single purpose of teaching religious educa- 
tion would have the effect, he felt, of lowering the standards 
of the class. In advanced grades, the use of a specialist 
might be wise, but he ought to teach more than religion 
alone. For that reason the speaker was not in favor of the 
appointing of a chaplain who should also teach religious 
education. 


Dr. Luther B. Wolf, of Baltimore, Maryland, (Luth.), said 
that he agreed with much that was stated in this trail-making 
Report, but wished to express his non-concurrence in a few 
important regards. (a) He felt that the Report over- 
emphasized method and under-estimated the religious mes- 
sage and its content as given expression in the Bible. (b) He 
also felt that there should be some reference to the historical 
faiths of the world, such as Hinduism or Islam, which have 
been in active existence for centuries and represent certain 
valuable elements in religious experience; and (c) He 
thought the Report failed to value sufficiently the catechetical 
method of instruction, of which the Roman Church makes 
such powerful use. Protestants ought to use it likewise 
with the young who need specific teaching. It is generally 
agreed that in accordance with the careful shaping of the 
mind of the child up to nine years of age or so, the man 
will develop. 


V. PREPARATION OF LEADERS, 


Rev. Herbert S. Harris, of Rio de Janeiro, secretary of the 
Brazil Sunday-school Union, declared that any form of 
education presupposes capable leaders and some well organ- 
ized methods of preparing them for leadership. In Brazil, 
the pressing need is acutely felt (a) for departments of re- 
ligious education in each theological seminary. so that the 
future minister may be reasonably equipped for the wise 
oversight and leadership in this respect of his church and 
community; (b) for a teacher of religious education in each 
of the important church, day, and boarding schools; (c) for 
the training in the elements of religious education of paroch- 
ial school teachers; (d) for the more definite training of 
teachers and officers of Sunday-schools, both now and in the 
future; and (e) for more and better literature. 

The means and methods adopted to achieve these latter 
objects are (a) the multiplication and betterment of training 
classes in Sunday-schools; (b) city or community training 
courses, held consecutively for several days or nights, or held 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 153 


once a week for a succession of weeks; (c) regional train- 
ing schools during the vacation period for ten or twelve days, 
making use of the equipment of some boarding school; and 
(d) a central training institute for several weeks for the 
advanced intensive training of those who have had the pre- 
ceding opportunities. 

he two great essentials for the promotion of these plans 
are the provision of the necessary funds and a spirit of real 
cooperation. 


Dr. E. C. Hounshell, of Nashville, Tennessee (M. E. So.), 
paid tribute to the army of teachers who spend time and 
strength on their preparation for a task, the full significance 
of which they do not always realize. Their fundamental 
need is intelligent training. The Methodist Church South in 
the United States has taken much pains to organize and 
promote Standard Training Schools in its-churches. Several 
hundred of these have been organized. They usually hold 
one session a week in the early evening. People come di- 
rectly from their business or homes, eat supper together, 
have an hour for rest or study, and then go into a period of 
class work. The course includes child psychology, Sunday- 
school methods, Sunday-school material, and special training 
for particular tasks. Each unit covers twelve hours of class 
room work, and there are twelve units in the curriculum. 
When they have all been covered satisfactorily, a diploma 
is awarded. 

Mr. E. C. Knight, of Buenos Aires, speaking as a layman, 
expressed his admiration of the Report, but declared that it 
would never be put into practise until denominations know 
each other better and work as a unit in developing the lead- 
ership demanded. In his judgment, the ideals and methods 
emphasized by the Report were such as all religious workers, 
even Roman Catholics, can heartily approve. He instanced 
the fact that the greater part of the funds needed by the 
Morris Schools in Buenos Aires came from Roman Catholic 
patrons and friends. If that were true, what could possibly 
hinder the getting together of all Evangelical forces in de- 
veloping this work of religious education? 


VI. THe Literature oF Reticious Epucarion. 
Rev. Hugh Stuntz, of Valparaiso (M. E.), declared that 
proper literature in Spanish, for the preparation of leaders, 
is greatly needed. There are three or four books now avail- 
able which can be used and several others usable for special 
purposes, but when Dr. Barclay exhibits six feet of useful 


154 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


books in English,* these three or four volumes in Spanish 
seem very few. 

Literature that can be used by pupils is greatly needed, 
affording sound instruction through good methods. No 
criticism is intended of “ Notas Explicativos,” but it is too 
costly for many teachers and altogether too much so for the 
use of pupils, most of whom are wretchedly poor. The de- 
velopment of inexpensive, but good lesson helps involves (a)' 
real cooperation. No one denomination can do the work 
properly; (b) graded materials for the use of the teacher. 
The material we have is capital for thoroughly educated 
people, but it is often over the head of the majority of our 
teachers; and (c) graded material for pupils, especially for 
those who are poorly equipped. ‘The great difficulty in all our 
work is that we fail to take account of the scanty prepara- 
tion of those whom we teach. 


VII. Tur Pastor. 


Rev. R. D. Daffin, of Campinas, Brazil (Pres. U. S. A), 
expressed his hearty approval of the Report, and particu- 
larly of the statement on page 128 where it says that 
the pastor is the key to the situation in religious education. 
As an evangelistic pastor and a substitute professor in a 
theological seminary for three years, his experience had 
proved that a thorough training ought to be given in religious 
education in each theological seminary. At Campinas, re- 
ligious education is not.a novelty. Careful plans have been 
made for ministerial training. ‘The Mission, with eight men 
devoting themselves to the task as they find opportunity, is 
seeking, during the next three years, to train ‘at least three 
hundred men to efficiency as leaders in religious education. 

The rural school offers a very real problem where the 
teacher and the people are desperately poor. The work must 
be done in very simple, practical fashion. 


VIII. Tur Onyect of RELIcious Epucation. 


Dr. Egbert W. Smith, of Nashville, Tennessee (Pres. U. 
S.), desired to endorse the distinction which Professor Flem- 
ing made between religious education and religious instruc- 
tion. He desired, however, to make a further distinction re- 
garding the proper purpose of the teacher of a Bible class. 
In his judgment, such a teacher is not to be judged on the 


4 The speaker here referred to the wide-ranging exhibit of litera- 
ture at the Congress. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 155 


basis of the knowledge of the Bible which he conveys to his 
class, since on that basis the work of the Sunday-school must 
be regarded as a virtual failure. His task is rather, through 
their growing acquaintance with the Bible, to bring pupils 
into a vital relationship with Christ. Just so, the principal 
object of mission schools and colleges is not to cover certain 
ranges of instruction so much as to produce capable Chris- 
tian leaders. Such institutions should be properly judged by 
their success or failure in this respect. 

The speaker declared his disapproval of the great majority 
of introductions to Bible study. Were he writing one, he 
would make the first chapter or group of chapters describe 
the Bible as a whole, in all its greatness. Then he would take 
up the life of Christ, then come back to the Old Testament 
and finally complete the Bible as a whole. 


IX. Tar Dairy Vacation BrBLie SCHOOL. 

Miss Bernice Cornelison, of the Glison Institute, Rosario, 
Argentina (W. F. M. S. M. E.), declared that the Daily 
Vacation Bible School is not to be regarded as a Sunday- 
school, nor as a Junior League. It is a school in which the 
dormant energy in each child can be developed and directed 
along lines which lead him to Jesus. Through hand work, 
conversation, and daily interests, the child can be introduced 
to truths which, in turn, he unconciously teaches to his own 
family. Patriotism, the love for music, the art of play, 
friendliness, as well as distinctly Christian ideas are thus 
teachable. The Daily Vacation Bible School has proven a 
godsend to many communities. 


X. THE TEACHING oF ADOLESCENTS. 

Mr. R. D. Christian, of Buenos Aires (Y. M. C. A.), dis- 
cussed religious work for adolescents, answering the com- 
plaint of many pastors that they lose their boys from 
Sunday-school and even from the church after fourteen years 
of age. The one great reason for this fact is that the domi- 
nant interests of boys beyond that age are outside the church 
life as managed at present. Pastors must take pains to create 
legitimate interests within the church which will be attractive 
to adolescents. They could develop within the church some 
enterprises that will utilize the energies called out by such 
a game as football. If it is necessary to choose between some 
standardized plan of work and a group of boys, decide in 
favor of the boys. 

The presentation of religion to adolescents of the Latin 
race is a subject worthy of study. Boys of that age take 


156 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

great interest in programs, in parades, in protests, and in 
campaigns of all sorts. They respond to that which calls for 
some sort of heroism or sacrifice. The program entitled 
“Heralds of the New Age,” recently prepared in Buenos 
Aires as a program for work with adolescent boys, may be 
highly recommended to any pastor, and can be secured from 
the Association. 


XI. Crostnc SUMMARY. 
Dr. BARCLAY. 


This debate has brought out much individual opinion, but 
there has been a large*preponderance of agreement with the 
conclusions of the Report. These may be summarized as 
follows: 

1. That the most effective way of completing a program of 
religious education is by way of the religious experience 
of youth. 

2. That methods have been over-emphasized at the expense 
of the religious message. In this respect, if Dr. Wolf had 
used the word process instead of method, he would have 
been in essential agreement with the Report. Does intellect 
or will and emotion predominate in actual life? Shall we 
teach the Bible as systematized knowledge or as a program 
of living out of the book of religious experience? 

3. That there is no more important task to be considered 
than the proper preparation of teachers. 

4. That the Daily Vacation Bible School is of much prac- 
tical value. 

5. That every field through its success furnishes an oppor- 
tunity for other fields to profit thereby. The Standard 
Training School system described by Dr. Hounshell can 
profitably be adopted by any group of churches. 

6. That a new profession must be recognized, involving a 
clear distinction between religious instruction and religious 
education. 

7. That the principal need of every missionary school is the 
development of competent Christian leaders. 

8. That Sunday-schools and young people’ s societies should 
be carefully correlated. 

9. That suitable literature—alike for teachers and pupils— 
is not available and must be provided. 

10. That the trained pastor is, after all, the real key to 
the situation. 

11, That religious instruction should be given with the 
same efficiency as the instruction of any other subject. 


THE FINDINGS 


1. It is declared to be the sense of the Congress that our 
educational objectives, materials, methods and personal rela- 
tionships should be brought into fullest harmony with the 
mind and spirit of Christ. 

2. It is the judgment of this Congress that the principle 
that education in religion is brought about fundamentally by 
activity in the religious life even more than by instruction 
about it should be brought into the controlling position in all 
our religious education. 

3. It is recommended that special emphasis be placed upon 
the importance of the following agencies for the training of 
teachers and leaders: 

(1) Standard Training Schools. 

(2) Short Training Conferences. 

(3) Summer Schools of Religious Education. 

(4) Community Training Schools. 

4. It is recommended that the Regional Committees on 
Cooperation in Latin America (viz., Brazil, River Plate, 
Chile, North Andean, and Northern South America) each 
appoint as a sub-committee a Regional Curriculum Com- 
mittee which shall be representative of the various denomina- 
tions at work in the respective regions. Each Committee 
shall elect its own chairman. The Chairmen of these several 
Regional Curriculum Committees shall constitute a Central 
Curriculum Committee, to be in correspondence with British 
and North American advisers (Joint Advisory Committee on 
Materials and Methods of Religious Education on the For- 
eign Field). The Central Curriculum Committee, together 
with the several Regional Curriculum Committees, shall be 
authorized: 

(1) To make a thorough study of the existing programs 
of religious education in all types of local churches, 
including week-day religious education, and to formu- 
late a comprehensive, inclusive program of religious 
education for the local church. 

(2) To re-examine all existing curricula and materials for 
religious education in the local church, and 
(a) To develop as far as possible out of existing 

materials a temporary curriculum for the agen- 


157 


158 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 


cies of religious education as they now exist, indi- 
cating what supplementary material is necessary. 

(b) To outline on the basis of the conclusions 
reached under (1), above, a new and compre- 
hensive curriculum of religious education for 
the local church and its agencies which shall 
make provision for all the elements of a com- 
plete program, including provision for leadership 
training. 

(3) To re-examine all existing curricula for religious edu- 
cation in day and boarding schools and after widest 
possible counsel to outline new and comprehensive 
curricula. 

5. The requests for supplementary material for the tem- 
porary curriculum and the outlines for new and compre- 
hensive curricula for the local church and its agencies and 
for the day and boarding schools shall be referred to the 
Committee on Cooperation in Latin America with the request 
that it provide for its production. 

6. It is recommended that some central agency, to be desig- 
nated by the Committee on Cooperation, shall be requested to 
assemble data upon plans and methods of stimulating and 
improving religious education in the home and distribute 
this information widely and to make recommendations to the 
Committee concerning additional literature needed. 


THE REPORT OF COMMISSION NINE 
ON 
LITERATURE 


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Contents 


I, LITERATURE IN SoUTH AMERICAN LIFE......... 165 
1. General Literature and Its Tendencies....... 165 
2. Outstanding Figures in Latin American Lit- 

LUN es eet en Ste tGthsart teenie fee n 167 
PHN ORSAY IGts Sette ind Seen er Te pene 9 169 
ULE Td palatal Seg orbs oat shines acted ol goa ath od 169 
PTO VOLISUS AL earths Sion eae eet Tele me 170 
MAR Stalin GHG 9b g ekg foal neh Chad he pap ee Aah Ring ed «atte Bay 171 
PE MUSTILICS. ele Seer en aes ke eh cht eet aan 171 
3. Cultural Sympathies and the Book Trade..... 172 
4. Lack of Inter-American Intellectual Commerce. 174 
Sawew, Methods. in! Mexico 0s sine dace aeepat 175 
Gaeharacter-building Literature tt. 1 in Gand sa.) 177 
(a) Limitations inytheqPast) ss. items oie» « 178 
Cove Liew Present (bask! )2./1.\, scfamtiaaenel cnr. 178 

II. LITERATURE AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY.... 181 
ESELTUETOUNCTIONas i easing ihae 3 sce wou pee ee ute ctttN 181 
2. Questions Faced at the Panama Congress in 

ROMO So easel veces oie ole vie teeease nen Te sR R AUREL Lt 182 
3. Activities of the Literature Committee, ::..... 183 
(a) The Publishing Policy of the Committee.. 184 
Cb) La Nueva Lemocracaa « ... dscdbtuibesles «ss 186 
(c) The Books Denpartinrent. ».. din th catia kes 186 
CLE Reaching Material mervica ta. sen ns yaa 187 
COB TESS POOL VICE) ls Nils. cite cide ipo eae Lorna 187 
A eresenteCenters Ol) PTOUUCLION att tia ss ea tele 187 
feelin thesUiived tales yy ace es Weegee emt 187 
COMET SSDaliaey ee ee a Wnt mei rome ala: 189g 
OC) git spanish A mernca ion ernie vere ge lc 190 
RepmetOrial wr PObleirio es: <4" mere renee) weaie al, IQI 
Se uDUCAMOU  Pronlerne e,.° .wreameaias facta 193 
fay. Quality versus: cononiy nest aa wen. us 193 
(Ui ReltanspOTtaiOrit: ul.) Welt aetna he ath a 193 
Lr) POwnorsinpsol Presses Ta Werte a. we ei Ais 193 
ML VaMenUrarevudices i venmeme ae os ne bs 194 
PEO CUld OMAP TOUenis says eet reinr we Nn ee 195 


161 


162 CONTENTS 
(aly Distribution’ Gefitersal Wonpuu ae ine) eae 195 
(by) “Draining OTWAeents tone k lenin sala eae 195 
(co). Gost: of Distribution: 2) saves ve eee 196 
(d) Relation to Commercial Book-stores .... 196 
8) Religious /PeriGdigaisy 7 PCat vents iee cles .'ed tienes 197 
III. Tue Bisik In SouTH AMERICA...........006- J, A196 
IV. PresENT UNDERTAKINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA.... 204 
Present! Activittese hs eo cea Pee cee 204 
2.) ptrectiveness'or (Present A genciedy) We. Sean 205 
3. Outside Agencies Distributing Evangelical Lit- 
erature) We Gna. vit Qing Ce eee ited ieee 206 
4. Books Required in the Immediate Future..... 206 
V. Tue Future Procram ror LitgEraturE Propuc- 
LONE! assist oh clad ean tat et eta, RA MNS Fok ee 209 
1. Kinds: of Literature ‘Most! Neededi.) 2.2 209 
2. Non-religious dyiter ature) syd hie Poe 209 
airPeriodicaloyaaiey 206 HUMLMa the Ganges vem nee 210 
4. Encouragement of Native Authorship........ 211 
VI. THE Recronar, LITERATURE CENTER..........-+- 211 
1. Should Each Region Have a Fully Equipped 
Publishing eitouser 4 Use whch gen eee ee tee 21 
2. Should Book Publication Be Centralized?.... 212 
3. Should Publishing Houses and Book-stores Be 
Subsidized -or )Séii-supporting "yeas ) eee 213 
4. Other (Methods of Circulatrorin 2 ne ae 214 
WiLT LITERATURE | IN HORTUGUESE, boo anil Colette ieee 215 
1. The Literature Actually Available for Use.... 215 
Cai Books men etait eos. Wud cmtke ha pete 217 
CD) Pamphlets ee it ai 7 habs see a 218 
Ce) Periodicals ye a ics u 26 einen) ot Maeda 218 
2. The Missionary Agencies, Denominational or 
Union, Actually Producing and Distributing 
Dateratire ais Stein alt aie aa ec aren 219 
(a) The Baptist Publishing House s......... 219 
(b) Imprensa,Methodistawy’. n... au). ee nen nes 220 
Co) SOPH rs on ALU an AN CW Lae 221 
3. Outside Agencies Through Which Literature 


is\Flandled (eee NUD eee ae ae 222 


CONTENTS 163 


4. The Books Which Ought to Be Translated and 
Published in the Next Few Years............ 223 
Ca LIGA CEC MEMES Mer elaie stele a edutave/ dials KSoseus 223 
(Pip neclortaleBOOkeu gu aiade ea wee eyhaleise caves 224 
OC Peseultuipal dames ys 3 6 atsts yin od wits ilay ie G/F 225 
(dj riiterature About they Diblecdayti ya) eee ss 225 
(ey. General Liiteraiire ide ge tea ve cheep lele cs 225 

5. Lhe Kinds of Literature Most Needed........ 225 

6. The Use of Literature in Missionary Work... 226 

7. The Development of Union Literature Centers. 226 

ores lustribitionror Literattire, . wow pinay 227 
Cajiihe, Use of Molportetirs! soda. us mee 2 227 
(hye iethods (Useduiny Circulating iene eis 228 

OwsacieralePablications dem iaiowie «ome Lela 228 

10,, National Evangelital, Periodicals ............. 228 

Pa Li SCUSSTON OF TH hy REPORT) eves ss athvtaateione oodles 230 


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LITERATURE. 


I. Lireratursé IN SouUTH AMERICAN LIFE. 


1. General Literature and Its Tendencies. 


A student of race psychology has said that the sixth 
sense of the Latin peoples is literature. Certainly it is true 
. that in Latin America the printed page is regarded as 
having peculiar authority and is looked upon by many 
with something akin to reverence. While it is true that a 
large percentage of the people in these countries are un- 
able to read and write, it is also true that those who do 
read have a more serious regard for literature than they 
do in many other countries that have a higher percentage 
of literacy. It is also true that serious-minded books have 
a larger appeal to Latin Americans than to those of many 
other countries. Fiction does not occupy nearly so large 
a place among Latin American readers as among people of 
the United States; on the other hand, philosophical and 
poetical works are much in demand. 

Any discussion of the question of literature in Spanish 
and Portuguese should begin with an acknowledgment of 
the very splendid literature which these languages already 
contain. Unfortunately, most of the people outside of the 
countries where these languages are spoken are largely 
ignorant of this literature. It is even true that many of 
the foreigners who speak these languages and who live in 
these countries are quite unfamiliar with a large part of 
the literature, especially with the increasingly large volume 
of works which are being produced at the present time. 
The basic principle for understanding the problems of the 
production of the right kind of literature in these lan- 
guages is, of course, the understanding of what has 
already been published. It is true that the major produc- 
tion has been so far along the lines of the idealistic and 
the poetical, with a corresponding lack of books on social 
and scientific themes. 


165 


166 LITERATURE 


Periodical literature in South America differs a good 
deal in its contents and make-up from that in the United 
States and Great Britain, and yet it does not always suffer 
by comparison. In the matter of newspapers, news is not 
the all-determining question in Latin American papers 
that it is in Anglo-Saxon countries. This is illustrated by 
the make-up of Latin American dailies, which often have 
their editorials and contributed articles on the front page 
and their news columns on the inside pages. One great 
paper in South America at least, La Nacion, of Buenos 
Aires, has recently adopted the make-up of the North 
American daily. It has been criticized widely on this 
account, and yet its circulation has grown to where it now 
has probably the largest subscription list of any paper in 
South America. That periodical, as well as La Prensa, 
of the same city, El Mercurio, of Chile, and some of the 
papers of Brazil, issues as voluminous daily and Sunday 
editions as do North American papers. The Sunday edi- 
tions are not only newspapers, but contain articles by the 
best known authors of Europe and America. La Nacton, 
of Buenos Aires, on Sunday will publish contributions 
from several of the most outstanding authors of Great 
Britain, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany and, less often, 
from the United States and Japan. It is only the larger 
newspapers in the capitals that can afford the very ex- 
pensive press service of foreign news agencies. 

When a North American editor recently visited Santo 
Domingo, he was very much impressed with the small 
daily and weekly papers in that country. He believed that 
they are very much better edited than are papers of the 
same kind in the United States. It is, of course, true that 
these newspapers give more attention to general literary 
work than do North American newspapers. It is not un- 
common to find columns devoted to poems, to serious 
articles and to literary criticism. 

As for magazines, aside from a few of the more popular 
ones like El Hogar and Caras y Caretas, of Buenos Aires, 
both of which claim a circulation beyond 150,000, the paid 
subscriptions are small indeed. We are informed that one 
of the best monthly reviews in Latin America which is 
widely quoted and has a splendid reputation among 


IN SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE 167 


cultured people in all Spanish America has a paid circula- 
tion of only 800 copies. Most magazines are published by 
groups of individuals or by societies whose members meet 
the expense, depending little upon subscriptions and ad- 
vertising. Even in the publication of books it is only very 
recently that there have been publishing houses which 
would accept the responsibility for distributing the books 
they publish. The ordinary way is for an author to pay 
the printer for printing his books just as he would for 
any other piece of printing. It is then up to the author 
himself to circulate his book, which he usually does 
largely by giving away free copies. A few publishing 
houses now, however, are realizing the possibilities of 
making money by publishing and marketing the books of 
popular authors. Authors now recognized as able to pro- 
duce “best sellers”? usually write, not fiction, but books 
on social and political questions. One such has recently 
made a new record of 50,000 copies sold. The situation 
still exists where most authors must pay for the publishing 
of their books. Since these are only circulated in the 
country where they are published, editions are small and 
sales are difficult. One of the great problems in connec- 
tion with production of good literature in Spanish and 
Portuguese is finding a way to pay authors for good solid 
literary work. 


2. Outstanding Figures in Latin American Literature. 


Europe used to treat the American Continent as Egypt, 
according to Herodotus, treated Greece: “ You are but 
children and‘ your civilization is of yesterday and lacks the 
refinement of the ages.’’ Such were the words of the 
Egyptian priest about that Greek movement which pro- 
duced the greatest thinkers and philosophers and the most 
noted artists in all manifestations of the fine arts. The 
best critics of Europe did not consider either North or 
South America worthy of attention. England ignored 
almost wholly any literary productions of the United 
States. Spain took the same attitude in regard to His- 
panic America, and, to a greater or less degree, so did 
France and Germany. 

But North and South America became, more than one 


168 LITERATURE 


generation ago, really original and creative in spite of the 
attitude of Europe. The War revealed more and more 
to Europe that there was in the United States something 
else worthy of consideration besides money, industry and 
machinery. ‘That fact was conspicuous among English 
and French critics. South America, too, began to loom 
high upon the European horizon. France and Spain 
began to reproduce and praise many of the literary pro- 
ductions of Hispanic America. Europe, in the last gen- 
eration, sent to Latin America not only commercial 
agents, bankers and adventurers, but also leaders in edu- 
cation, statesmanship and literary pursuits. And yet the 
United States remains stationary in recognizing what is 
going on in Latin America outside of business. The 
United States sends to Latin America bankers and com- 
mercial agents, but few educators and critics who can 
appreciate its marvelous literary development. That igno- 
rance was strikingly set forth recently by Prof. William 
R. Shepherd, of Columbia University, when, in his words 
of welcome to Dr. Manuel Gamio, of Mexico, one of the 
greatest anthropologists of the present generation, he said 
something like this: “I am sorry that you are a Latin 
American and a Mexican; and do not misinterpret my 
words. What I mean is that if you were a Frenchman, a 
German, an Italian, or an Englishman, then you would be 
considered as the greatest anthropologist of this gener- 
ation, and your works would be read by the majority of 
cultured North Americans. But of you North America 
will say what the Pharisees said of Christ: ‘Can anything 
good come from Nazareth?’ ‘Can anything of a real 
scientific importance come from Latin America or Mex- 
ico?’” ‘To anyone who can appreciate what is going on 
in Europe and in North America, Latin America appears 
today as creative and original as either North Amer- 
ica or Europe. Her scholars have given new life to the 
Spanish and Portuguese languages ; they have created new 
types of literature, both as novelists and dramatists. 

It is materially impossible to mention all the prominent 
writers of South America in this report; we shall mention 
only some of those who besides being well known in Latin 
America are also known in Europe; and we shall speak 


IN SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE 169 


only of the modern writers of South America, excluding 
Central America, the West Indies and Mexico; and we 
shall classify them in five groups: essayists, poets, novel- 
ists, historians, and critics. 

(a) Essayists—The essay has always been a favorite 
form of Hispano-American culture. Chief of all Spanish- 
American essayists was José Enrique Rodo, of Uruguay, 
who, in his three books, “ Ariel,” “ Mirador de Prospero,” 
and “ Motivos de Proteo,” gave us a series of essays about 
the conception of life problems, art, education, etc., simi- 
lar to the “ Dialogues” of Plato. Francisco Garcia 
Calderon, of Peru, in the manner of Papini in Italy and 
Macaulay and Carlyle in England, is giving from Paris 
Opinions about the more prominent authors of Europe, 
new ideas of art, problems of sociology, etc. José 
Ingenieros, of Argentina, as did Emerson, discusses 
problems of human life, sociology, standards of morals 
and formation of character. Rufino Blanco Fombona, 
of Venezuela, who has written essays comparing the 
Anglo-Saxon and the Hispanic American civilization, 
Europe and America, is always emphatic, but not always 
correct and just. Manuel Gonzalez Prada, of Peru, has 
pointed out, better than any other writer, the shortcom- 
ings of Hispanic America, particularly of Peru. Leopoldo 
Lugones, of Argentina, and Antonio Gomez Restrepo, of 
Colombia, have written literary essays which can compete 
with the best of their class either in Europe or North 
America. Commanding ever greater attention at home 
and abroad is Ricardo Rojas, of Argentina. 

(b) Poets ——Poetry is the most general manifestation 
of literature in Latin America. José Santos Chocano, of 
Peru, is perhaps the greatest American poet of this conti- 
nent in the sense that nobody has ever described, as he has, 
the rivers, forests, mountains, and pampas; the clash be- 
tween the Indian and Spanish civilization and the melting 
together of both. In this aspect he is unique and his 
poetical images are superior even to the best of Victor 
Hugo. Juan Zorilla de San Martin, of Uruguay, in his 
poem ‘ Tabaré,’ has drawn a remarkable picture of the 
Indian. He has revived, with beauty and grace, with 
sympathy and tenderness, the life of the Indians, their 


170 LITERATURE 


struggles, and their extinction, particularly relating the 
history of the tribe of the Charruas. His book is con- 
sidered a masterpiece in its class. Gabriela Mistral, of 
Chile, taking such themes as the mother, the teacher, 
beauty, and some of the problems of daily life, has pro- 
duced lyrical compositions of an incomparable merit, both 
as manifestations of beautiful form and as a factor in 
education. She is considered, by many competent critics, 
the greatest living poet in Spanish. Another fine Chilean 
poet is Pedro Prado. Ricardo Jaimes Freyre, of Bolivia, 
Lugones, of Argentina, Guillermo Valencia, of Colombia, 
all have hosts of enthusiastic admirers. José Hernandez, 
of Argentina, in his epic poem “ Martin Fierro,’ has given 
a monumental picture of the gaucho of the pampas of 
Argentina. Luisa Luisi, of Uruguay, has described the 
anxieties, the skepticisms, and the sorrows of modern man- 
kind as few have done. Alfonsina Storni, of Argentina, 
excels as a lyric poetess conspicuously. Juana de Ibar- 
bourou, of Uruguay, in spite of her youth, has described 
love and the union of men and women with a vision and 
power that is granted to very few of the best poets. 

(c) Novelists—Two or three scores of prominent 
novelists could be mentioned, but those only will be named 
who have created a new type of literature. Don Juan 
Leon Mera, in his novel “ Cumanda,”’ deals with the con- 
flict of Indians and whites. His is a splendid picture, 
full of life and interest, of the Indian life and its sur- 
roundings. José de Alencar Gonzalves, of Brazil, wrote 
of the Indians in Brazil. Clorinda Matto de Turner, in 
her novel “ Aves sin nidos,’ described with power, beauty 
and truth, the loneliness and sadness of the Indian races. 
All those novelists and several others have really created 
new types of literary characters. Rufino Blanco Fom- 
bona, José Vargas Vila, of Colombia, Carlos Reyles, of 
Uruguay, belong to the Zola School. Nor should we for- 
get other striking realists, such as Manuel Galvez, of 
Argentina, Arguedes, of Bolivia, with his “Raza de 
bronce,’ and the short story writers Pedro Coll, of Vene- 
zuela, José Galvez, of Peru, and Horacio Quiroga, of the 
River Plate. These latter writers have cultivated the 
regionalistic genre with great success. Ricardo Palma, 


IN SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE 171 


of Peru, in his several volumes of “ Tradiciones Peru- 
anas,” has described the colonial life of Peru, its frivoli- 
ties and customs, with such great vividness and art that 
we question whether any other literature has any work of 
the kind to compare with it. Others have originated 
native theatrical productions which have been presented 
very successfully in Madrid and in Paris, where they have 
been. given the name of “ American New Theatre.” This 
development has been largely in Argentina and Uruguay. 

(d) Historians—We can name Bartolomé Mitre, of 
Argentina, as the greatest historian that South America 
has ever produced. Pedro F. Zeballo, of Ecuador, has 
also written several volumes of history. José Ingenieros, 
of Argentina, has presented the sociological movement, 
particularly of the Rio de la Plata region, historically. 
Vicente G. Quesada and his son Ernesto, of Argen- 
tina, have produced a great many essays about different 
historical periods and sociological movements of Amer- 
ica with great insight. Oliveira Lima, of Brazil, is one 
of the few who have written with some sympathy about 
the United States, though he considers imperialism a 
natural product of every great nation. Jacinto Lopez, 
of Venezuela, has dealt historically with the international 
relations of several of the Republics of this continent, 
basing his accurate judgments on reliable documents. 
Fstanislao $. Zeballos, of Argentina, has written a great 
many monographs about prominent men and _ historical 
events. Zorilla de San Martin’s “ Epopeya de Artigas” 
has attracted much attention. 

(e) Critics —In regard to grammar, philology and lexi- 
cography, Hispanic America has produced, in the last 
generation, and is presenting today, such men as Rufino 
Cuervo,’ of Colombia, who started the largest and most 
accurate and reliable dictionary ever produced in Spanish; 
Baralt, of Venezuela, who published the best dictionary 
of gallicisms; Crescente Errazuriz, of Chile, who has 
written several books to fix the genuine Spanish words 
and vocabulary and to establish a contrast with the differ- 
ent barbarisms introduced in Chile. This same work has 
been done by more than ten different critics in different 
Republics. Recently Pedro Fortoul-Hurtado, of Vene- 


172 LITERATURE 


zuela, wrote a very helpful book of this kind. Many of 
the essayists are also good critics, particularly Rod6o, 
Rojas, Roxlo, of Uruguay, Francisco and Vicente Garcia 
Calderon, and Vicente and Ernesto Quesada. We can 
add to these the names of José Toribio Medina, of Chile; 
Antonio Gomez Restrepo, of Colombia; Raul Montero 
Bustamente, of Uruguay; and Martin Garcia Moreu, 
Pablo Groussac, and Calixto Oyuela, of Argentina. 


3. Cultural Sympathies and the Book Trade. 


Jesus Semprum, a well known Venezuelan writer, has 
recently made a study of this subject and makes the fol- 
lowing statement: 


“In the most of the European countries and in the United 
States, the Central American and South American nations do 
not, as a rule, enjoy a great reputation for the culture they 
have attained. With the exception of a few specialists, who 
-are well acquainted with the American countries of Spanish 
or Portuguese speech and who are informed of their prog- 
ress, most people take a wrong view of the America that is 
not English. 

“Only France, Spain and the United States have a book 
trade with South America. Germany had begun to lay her 
plans to take speedy possession of this fat market; and she 
would have succeeded easily, in view of the carelessness of 
her competitors. Germany was already printing devotional 
books of a fine appearance, with well chosen illustrations and 
upon good paper, which she was selling at fair prices. These 
publications were probably in the nature of soundings, de- 
signed to fathom the market. If the war had been postponed 
some years, it would have found the Teutons completely 
dominating the book trade of South America. In general, 
publishers and booksellers are ignorant of the South Ameri- 
can market; but the worst of it is that they think, in good 
faith, that they know all about it. 

“The book from Paris continued to be the fashion until a 
few years ago; and it was accepted as the norm, not only in 
literature, but also in the treatment of scientific, philosoph- 
ical and technical questions. Even today students have re- 
course to French books for the study of certain subjects. In 


IN SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE 173 


respect of the natural sciences, medicine and philosophy, 
works published in Paris maintain a certain preéminence, 
although unmistakable indications are visible that they may 
soon lose it. In general, the French book industry has fol- 
lowed the same course as European opinion regarding South 
America. In the south, we have always been platonic lovers 
of France; we have courted her, we have bedecked her with 
the roses of adulation and enveloped her in incensed sighs of 
worship, without her even having so much as acknowledged 
our wooing. 

“From the middle of the nineteenth century and until 
recent days, the great South American authors gave the 
preference to the French publishers for the printing of their 
books, thus conforming to the general tendency of their 
respective peoples. Students who undertake to delve into 
any specialty and have to read German, English or Italian 
authors, read them in French versions; for France ex- 
pressed for us the juice of universal wisdom in her language. 
Nevertheless, the French did not know how to take ad- 
vantage of these circumstances, in every way propitious. 

“During the last decades of the past century, the Span- 
iards endeavored to recover this market, which ought never 
to have gotten out of their hands; but the most of these 
attempts were awkward and ill directed. The publishers 
have centered their main efforts upon selling cheap books, 
which is something, but not everything, nor the main thing. 
The Spaniards adhere to the French method and do not think 
of exploiting their own rich veins. People who devote them- 
selves to the study of the Spanish classics must often exert 
much effort to obtain the books they need. In scientific sub- 
jects also the millions of Americans who speak Spanish and 
pursue certain kinds of studies or find pleasure in readings 
of a certain character, and who, until a short time ago, 
ordered from Paris, are now trying to buy books in London 
or New York. 

“Tf North Americans study this point with wisdom and 
calmness, they can do an excellent business and at the same 
time render an important service to their own country. The 
knowledge of present conditions may be of great advantage 
to them, all the more when one considers that there is now 
an initial development of North American editions in the 


174 LITERATURE 


Spanish language, and that in the United States are already 
being published a number of reviews in Spanish. 

“South America needs to read now more than ever. Pub- 
lic information, even in the most advanced of the southern 
republics, is rudimentary, if it be compared with the notori- 
ous needs of the population. If the lack of adequate com- 
munications did not present today an insuperable obstacle, 
great publishing centers of the language would soon be es- 
tablished in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Caracas and Havana, 
but commerce between those countries of the south is today 
very difficult, and a book from Tokio reaches Bogota sooner 
than one from Caracas. 

“One of the faults which require remedy is the failure of 
publishers in other countries to adapt their texts to the 
peculiar conditions of the intertropical nature. In some 
schools of Venezuela, it was a custom, until a short time ago, 
to place in the hands of the children a primary text in which 
winter and its severities were spoken of as among the best 
known phenomena, although the children had never in their 
lives seen any other winter than the torrential downpours to 
which this name is applied among them. ‘The explanation 
should have been made that these phenomenon occur only in 
the temperate zone. These details assume an astonishing 
importance, from a certain point of view. On the other 
hand, the tiresome moral that runs through these texts leads 
us to suspect that they were elaborated with the same unso- 
phisticated zeal with which the missionaries furbish their 
stories and anecdotes for the edification of the savages. All 
this is due to a lack of accurate knowledge of southern 
peoples. The time seems to have come now, when those who 
are interested in knowing them should take the trouble to 
obtain trustworthy information, and not heed the first prattle 
they chance upon in passing.” 


4. The Lack of Inter-American Intellectual Commerce. 

Don Carlos Silva Cruz, the director of the National 
Library of Chile, points out the fact that there is great 
need of providing for a better exchange of books among 
the American nations themselves. He says: 


“The difficulties of communication between the different 


IN SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE 175 


countries of America have been, during the whole of the 
nineteenth century, as Chinese walls, isolating each one from 
the others in everything related to spiritual life. Their 
fountains of inspiration were beyond the seas. Unfortu- 
nately, it is an undeniable fact that, in intellectual things, we 
American countries are even more distant, one from the 
other, than in all other classes of activity. This fact, which 
is known to all those in America who read, study or observe 
the life of the continent, is confirmed mathematically by 
statistical figures. 

“The total number of publications consulted in the central 
reading room of the Chilean National Library, during 1912 
(the first in which the statistics were kept by nationalities) 
was 47,311, including books, pamphlets, reviews and period- 
icals. Divided into nationalities, this total gives 20,618 for 
national literature and 26,693 for that of foreign countries; 
and of the latter 11,366 for French literature; 9,160 for 
Spanish; and only 1,396 for all the American countries 
combined. 

“That is to say that, of the foreign works read by the 
public of Santiago in their principal library, during the year, 
43% were French, 34% Spanish and only 5% American.” 


5. New Methods in Mexico. 


The Department of Education of the Mexican Gov- 
ernment, under its Secretary, Sr. José Vasconcelos, has 
attacked vigorously some of these problems recently. One 
of its activities was the founding in Mexico City of a 
“Library and Hall of Latin American Literature.” In 
announcing this library, Sr. Vasconcelos spoke as follows: 


“All those in Mexico who read know by sad experience 
the difficulty of finding books to read, not only in small towns 
but in cities. The service of the library has been almost 
nothing, and only now are we beginning to know the ad- 
vantages of the modern library which has good and useful 
books at the disposition of all classes of people. Today, in 
the City of Mexico, only the person who does not desire to 
read lacks reading, because on all sides large and small 
libraries have been opened in which the reader may read 
books of history, of science, of travel, and of literature. 


176 LITERATURE 


“But books concerning South America which contain the 
thoughts of our brother Americans have not been brought 
to us, except occasionally, and there have been no places 
where we could buy these books. Ordinarily the book stores 
have for sale only those which are edited in Europe and the 
United States. The lamentable result is that in spite of our 
desire to develop relations it has been impossible for us to 
know the books from South America. In order to remedy 
this situation this library has been founded, responding to a 
great national necessity.” 


Something of the idea back of the founding of this 
library seemed to have been given expression also at the 
Fifth Pan-American Conference, in 1923, when a resolu- 
tion was adopted providing that future conferences should 
study the creation of inter-American libraries in each of 
the countries, where representative literature of all the 
American countries could be gathered. 

Another method of promotion adopted by the Mexican 
Department of Education is the “ Feria Del Libro” 
(Book Fair), which is expected to develop a larger knowl- 
edge of the books available and to show the activities of 
the various publishing houses of Mexico. Another and 
far-reaching movement has been the development of 
libraries. Along with these libraries has gone the publi- 
cation of a considerable number of the classics. These 
books have been printed by the Government Printing 
Office and distributed gratis through about six thousand 
libraries, both municipal and school libraries. Included in 
these volumes have been translations of the Iliad and 
the Odyssey and an attractive volume containing the 
Valera version of the New Testament with an introduc- 
tion by Tolstoy. 

Public libraries in South America have not yet devel- 
oped to where they are supplying a great popular need, as 
in some other countries. There are not lacking, however, 
prescient leaders who are working for the development 
of the public libraries in the interests of the people. Here- 
tofore, libraries have been usually considered as a kind of 
museum. Great tomes were stored there for the scholars 
wishing to consult them or for people who wished to gaze 


IN SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE 177 


from afar upon the glories of their national culture. 
Only recently in a few South American countries has the 
idea of a popular library taken hold. Now a small num- 
ber of librarians are being trained so as to meet the read- 
ers more than half way, interesting them in books that 
they ought to read and reaching out beyond the library to 
the public in general to stimulate its interest in reading.’ 
Certain students of the educational problems of Latin 
America believe that one of the greatest needs of these 
countries is trained librarians. 


6. The Need of Character Building Literature. 


Notwithstanding the considerable stream of good litera- 
ture that is increasingly flowing from Madrid, Buenos 
Aires, Havana, Mexico City and other centers in the 
Spanish-speaking world there is a lack of the proper 
amount of the following classes of literature: pedagogy, 
sociology, juvenile literature, ethics, the application of 
science to modern life, inspirational works and books 
showing the application of religion to life. 

Unquestionably the greatest need of literature in Span- 
ish and Portuguese—indeed it might be said of any other 
language—is that of the literature that will develop char- 
acter. It cannot be denied that there is a comparatively 
small amount of such literature, except where it is very 
closely bound up with the acceptance of the theology of 
some particular church. Seldom indeed does one find in 
Spanish or Portuguese real attempts to face upto the 
moral questions, such as that made by the well known 
professor of ethics in the University of Montevideo, Dr. 
Vaz Ferrera, in his book Moral Para Intelectuales. Yet 
this book takes the position that neither Catholic or Evan- 
gelical Christianity is an asset in the fight of the individual 
for a moral life. The writings of Gabriela Mistral are 
urgent of moral character. A recent book on “ Basic 
Principles of Civilization,” by Navarro Monzo, is also 
illustrative of what is much more largely needed along this 
line. The translation of Smiles’ books have had a wide 
circulation, and now the books of Marden are having 
great vogue in Latin America. What is needed, however, 
is not so much translations as original works which will, 


178 LITERATURE 


with spiritual insight and religious conviction, avoiding 
sectarianism and comprehending the modern social and 
scientific viewpoint, stress the problems of morality both 
in personal and national life. 

(a) Limitations in the past—It is easy to realize why 
such character-building literature has not been largely 
produced in Latin America, when one looks at the historic 
situation. Ecclesiastical writers have produced many 
volumes on this topic, but they have practically always 
been definitely yoked with the acceptance of Roman Cath- 
olic theology. Since a large number of the intellectuals 
have definitely rejected that theology, it is understandable 
why such literature has little effect on the leaders in edu- 
cation and political life. On the other hand, secular 
authors have been so largely against all religions that any- 
thing they might say on character building has been ex- 
ceedingly limited in its scope because it has left out 
belief in God and fellowship with Christ which are the 
principal dynamic in the fight for character. 

(b) The present task.—Since the theologians of the 
Roman Catholic Church strenuously demand the accept- 
ance of the dogmas of the church on the one hand, and the 
radical authors refuse to accept a spiritual basis for char- 
acter on the other hand, neither the one nor the other are 
prepared to develop a real character-building literature 
that will appeal to the modern man. Here is found the 
great challenge to the Evangelical churches. By showing 
how the modern teachings of science, modern social 
movements, and the modern teachings of psychology, can 
be made to contribute to the betterment of man, E,vangel- 
ical writers may render yeoman service in the building of 
individual and national character as neither extreme 
radical nor conservative can possibly do. 

Besides the developing of character-building literature 
the Evangelical church must also look to the development 
of its own peculiar technical books for training its edu- 
cational, spiritual, and social leaders and for training — 
also the membership of the church. WHere, then, is the 
program for the Evangelical church along the lines of.. 
literature: developing character-building literature and 
technical literature for the service of its own people. It is 


IN SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE 179 


the latter part of this task which this report most fully 
discusses. - 

The Evangelical forces ought not to think of their liter- 
ature work in too limited a sense, for it involves not sim- 
ply producing a technical literature for ministers and for 
vountary workers on Bible interpretation and methods of 
work. Nor yet does it mean the production of all kinds of 
literature for its own people—history, fiction, pedagogical 
works, theology, etc. It means the contribution in the 
largest possible way commensurate with its resources, of 
literature that will meet both its own technical needs and 
the spiritual needs of the public in general. And if the 
greatest good to the greatest number is sought, it is evident 
that all but purely technical literature, that is, all that 
should be introduced to the public at large, must be pre- 
sented in non-technical, non-theological phraseology, with 
the elimination of sectarian ear marks, including denomi- 
national names of publishing houses, which automatically 
prejudice readers and shut off the circulation of books 
from the bulk of the public. 

No less must Evangelicals reach out for the best litera- 
ture produced outside its circle to put it into the hands 
of all its constituency. In the modern world, we are being 
taught that neither the individual brain nor the community 
mind lives in compartments. This is nowhere so true as 
in the realm of literature. The very books we depend on 
most largely for religious nurture may be the ones that 
actually give the least results. And the literature which 
we consider as entirely “secular”? may have the most 
effect on soul culture. We have in the past probably been 
too trustful of the necessarily religious effect of a tale 
when adorned with a moral. We may have too largely 
trusted the good results of all literature properly tagged 
as Christian and given too little consideration to the ele- 
vating effects of the noble poetry and prose written by 
“secular ” writers. We may now be missing the fine line 
of new books just for children appearing in Spanish, 
which give the imagination proper play,—stories of ad- 
venture for boys and girls, books on the home, on the 
place of womanhood, on modern social questions, on 
science, and especially on ethical and moral questions. 


180 LITERATURE 


Sometimes there is found a tendency to put all such 
books on a kind of index expurgatorwms because there 
might appear here and there certain ideas which were 
not in conformity with the theological standards of par- 
ticular groups. 

Since Evangelicals cannot hope to produce on the one 
hand all the books that their constituency reads or, 
on the other hand, any considerable amount of general 
literature for the public, they should endeavor to fra- 
ternize with the best of other writers, both of books 
and of periodicals, and discuss with them the great spirit- 
ual, ethical and social problems which need to be pre- 
sented to the public from the Christian standpoint. 
Gabriela Mistral has suggested that out of the Monte- 
video Congress should come an authors’ league, composed 
of those who will follow definite plans in their own coun- 
tries to write for the press, and will influence others to 
write, on great spiritual and social themes. The nucleus 
of such a league might be found in the recently formed 
Advisory Board of La Nueva Democracia, which is as 
follows: Dr. Baltasar Brum, Dr. José Vasconcelos, Don 
Juan B. Huyke, Dr. John A. Mackay, Dr. M. Marquez 
Sterling, Prof. J. Navarro Monzo, Dr. Tulio Cestero, 
Gral. Aaron Saenz, Prof. Federico de Onis, Srta. 
Gabriela Mistral, Dr. Juan R. Uriate, Don C. Silva Cruz 
and Dr. Ernesto Nelson. Such a league could answer 
many calls, such as the one given Prof. Erasmo Braga 
recently by a group of distinguished Brazilians, asking 
him to write a series of readers for the public schools 
which would emphasize the moral and spiritual side 
of life. | 

Much good can be done by weil coordinated efforts to 
help in the circulation of such books as El Sermon de la 
Paz, by Zorilla de San Martin; Desolacién, by Gabriela 
Mistral; El Hombre Mediocre, by Ingenieros ; Posstivismo 
e Idealismo, by Caso; the poems of Amado Nervo; Os 
Deveres das Novas Geracoes Brasiletras, by Carneiro 
Leao; Horas y Siglos, by Navarro Monzo; El Sentimiento 
Tragico de la Vida, by Unamuno, and even older books 
like those of the fiery moral prophet of Argentina, 
Agustin Alvarez. 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY 181 


The time has undoubtedly come in Latin America for 
a closer fraternizing of all the forces in literature that are 
fighting for the substitution of a spiritual, a religious, a 
Christian basis of life for the materialistic basis which has 
threatened to engulf these lands. How far can the liter- 
ary program of the Evangelical Movement help to bring 
this about? Here is one of its greatest challenges. 


II. LiIvrerRATURE AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY, 


1. Introduction. 


The publication and circulation of literature presents 
one of the most outstanding opportunities, and at the same 
time one of the most difficult problems, confronting the 
Christian forces in South America. This phase of work 
has never been adequately stressed in Latin America, and 
yet perhaps no other countries possess such possibilities. 
Vast sums of money have been spent in support of mis- 
sionaries and national preachers, and in the building and 
maintenance of educational institutions, but only the fag 
ends of appropriations have been applied to literature. 
Literacy is improving in South America, due to the atten- 
tion governments are giving to the enlargement of the 
educational program. The number of adults and children 
who can read is constantly increasing, and these are reach- 
ing out for everything available. What have we to offer 
them in attractive religious literature to compete with the 
secular and profane literature offered from every side? 
It is hoped and expected that the preparation of these 
surveys and their discussion at Montevideo will do much 
to convince missionary leaders that this arm of missionary 
work, so largely neglected, is one of the most potent at 
our command. 

Because of the rapid increase of literacy throughout the 
world, printed propaganda has largely supplemented per- 
sonal advocacy in the commercial, political and economic 
world. A most fascinating field of experiment and in- 
quiry has thus been opened to the church in determining 
how far the principles of the new science of advertising 
may be applied to its work. Certainly the children of 
light should be as wise and far-seeing as the children of 


182 LITERATURE 


the world, and we should pay more attention to this type 
of work. 

Evangelism by the spoken address is of vast importance 
and must not be neglected. It may be pointed out, how- 
ever, that the spoken word lives chiefly in the memory of 
the hearer, while the printed word, at small cost, reaches 
thousands and its influence extends into the future. We 
must therefore urge, at the outset, that leaders give more 
serious consideration to the preparation and distribution 
of literature. 

Our report will deal almost entirely with Spanish litera- 
ture. A most excellent statement. of conditions obtaining 
in Brazil has been prepared by a committee under the 
direction of Professor Erasmo Braga, and is quoted in 
this report in its entirety as a basis for the discussion of 
the development of Evangelical literature in the Portu- 
guese language. 


2. Questions Faced at the Panama Congress in 1916. 


The Report on Literature made at the Panama Con- 
gress dealt almost entirely with the need and processes of 
development of the technical literature for the Evangelical 
community. Preceding that discussion, however, a thor- 
ough treatment of the production of versions and of the 
distribution of the Bible was given. The situations there 
described are still pertinent. It was recognized that the 
circulation of the Scriptures was the essential basis of all 
programs for Christian literature. The need of a better 
literary approach to the Latin American mind was 
emphasized. 

The Chapter on Cooperation in that report outlined the 
possibility and method of unified labor in the handling of 
periodical publications, in general literary production, in 
the conduct of press bureaus, in the maintenance of book 
stores, and in the production of a general magazine. The 
report closed with a paragraph on the conditions of ef- 
fective cooperation: 


“Any adequate plan for cooperation must begin with the 
naming of a central board of control or literature commis- 
sion, made up of representatives of the various missions, a 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY = 183 


sufficient proportion of them to form the executive com- 
mittee being resident in or near the city chosen for head- 
quarters or central office and depository and publishing 
house. Such an organization would require from the first 
the services of an editor-in-chief, a business manager, and 
of others whom the experience of those given to this kind of 
work would recommend. Authorship would not be limited, 
but the cooperation of many outside the circle who have thus 
far made contributions could be secured. Many strong men 
of different countries would welcome the opportunity to 
cooperate. ‘The scheme should also include a joint com- 
mittee in each one of the Latin American countries, with a 
single joint publishing house, union paper and union book 
store.” 


3. Activities of the Literature Committee. 


A serious effort has been made to carry out the recom- 
mendations of the Panama Congress for the building of a 
proper literature program for Latin America. Within a 
few months after the Congress adjourned, the Committee 
on Cooperation in Latin America had formed a Literature 
Committee and set up a small office in New York, which 
has been growing gradually up to the present time. It 
has been estimated that fully sixty per cent. of the Span- 
ish Evangelical religious literature now in print has been 
produced since the Panama Congress, a large amount of it 
under the stimulus of this Literature Committee. 

The following activities indicate the scope of the Com- 
mittee’s work: 

(1) Making, subsidizing and supervising translations. 

(2) Securing the publication of these translations. 

(3) Enlisting the interest of qualified indigenous writ- 
ers in the production of original works. 

(4) Subsidizing the publication of books badly needed, 
but not commercially profitable. 

(5) Publication of La Nueva Democracia, a periodical 
presenting the Christian viewpoint on world 
problems. 

(6) Insuring the general circulation of good literature 
by the operation of a mail-order book business, the 
Book Department of La Nueva Democracia. 


184 LITERATURE 


(7) Publication of books on its own account, such as 
the Spanish Commentary on the International Sun- 
day School Lessons. 

(8) Preparing material for a regular press service for 
both the religious and secular press in Latin 
America. 

(9) Preparing a monthly “ Sermon Material Service ” 
for more than six hundred local pastors in Latin 
America. 

(10) Publication of an Annotated Bibliography of 
Character-Building Books in Spanish. 

In nearly all of these matters the Committee has been 
active. ‘The single exception is that of enlisting the in- 
terest of qualified indigenous writers in the production of 
original works. The Evangelical churches in Latin 
America are unfortunate in that the few members suited 
to literature work are usually too busy to write creative 
books. A number of works are in course of preparation, 
however, especially in Brazil; and among the younger 
generation are many gifted men of whom much is ex- 
pected. We are moving but slowly toward the day when 
religious literature for the Spanish and Portuguese coun- 
tries will be written by nationals. 

(a) The publishing policy of the Committee-—Out of 
the accumulated experience of the past seven years 
the Committee has developed the following mode of 
procedure: 

The original suggestion that a book be translated and 
published in Spanish or Portuguese may come either 
through the expression of the need for a certain type of 
book by individuals, or groups in the field or by the sug- 
gestion from either the field or the home base that a par- 
ticular English book be translated. 

In the first case the request is presented at one of the 
regular monthly meetings of the Committee on Literature. 
The Committee, having first ascertained that no acceptable 
book of the type desired is already existent, enlists expert 
advice as to the book best adapted to the situation. One 
of the principal factors in such a selection is suitability to 
interdenominational use. 

After a book has been selected (under case number 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY 185 


one), or when a recommendation for the publication of a 
definite book is received (as in case number two), the next 
step is to determine the relative importance of the new 
project as compared with books already in process of 
translation and publication. Qualified translators and 
funds for the work are both limited, and it is therefore 
necessary to maintain an “approved list,’ or program 
for the future. A newly suggested book, if approved by 
the Committee, is put on this program, which means that 
it will be pushed toward publication as rapidly as oppor- 
tunity offers. 

The next step is to secure an acceptable translation. 
The Committee has found that this can be done properly 
only by one whose native tongue is Spanish. Translations 
are made either by local Christians in Latin America, 
whose interest in a particular book impels them to do the 
work as a contribution to the advancement of the King- 
dom, or by professional translators who are paid for the 
work. It is the Committee’s experience that . American 
missionaries, regardless of the fluency of their Spanish or 
length of residence on the field, can best promote the 
cause of good literature by helping and inspiring nationals 
to do the actual work of translation. One of the Com- 
mittee’s minor duties is acting as a clearing house of infor- 
mation regarding all the translations going on in any part 
of the field and endeavoring to prevent duplications. 

Frequently the original request to publish a book is ac- 
companied by a translation, supposedly all ready for the 
printer. Such manuscripts are carefully scrutinized by 
the Editor of Spanish Publications, who makes whatever 
revisions are necessary, or reports that the translation is 
unfit for publication and that a new translation must be 
sought. | 

In some cases a group of Christians desire the publica- 
tion of a book which they have prepared, but the Com- 
mittee feels that the demand for it is not sufficient to 
justify the expenditure in view of other demands. Under 
these circumstances the sponsors of the book are asked to 
secure orders for several hundred copies as a guarantee. 
These orders are then turned over to the Book Depart- 
ment of La Nueva Democracta, which secures the printing 


186 LITERATURE 


of the book and assumes the risk of recovering the addi- 
tional cost over the initial orders. There is no limit to the 
Committee’s capacity for turning out literature under this 
plan in the case of works which have a reasonable prospect 
of general sale. 

When books on the approved list are translated and are 
ready for the printer, almost the same process is gone 
through, except that an effort 1s made to have some estab- 
lished publisher bring out the book. If the book does not 
promise a commercial profit (Protestant religious books in 
Spanish seldom do), the Book Department of La Nueva 
Democracia places an initial order with the publisher for 
several hundred copies. 

When the book finally appears in print every effort is 
made to push its sale in Latin America, even though not 
published by the Committee—partly to release the money 
invested, and partly to avoid a loss to the publisher, thus 
making him receptive toward additional publications. 

(b) La Nueva Democracia.—The Committee’s monthly 
Spanish magazine, La Nueva Democracia, is the answer 
to the desire of the Boards represented in the Committee 
on Cooperation in Latin America for an evangelist to the 
educated classes of the Spanish countries. It is the only 
publication in the Spanish language that seeks definitely to 
interpret world events from the Christian standpoint and 
to discuss present economic, political and social problems 
of the world on a genuine Christian basis, showing that 
religion offers the only adequate solution of these ques- 
tions. On his recent trip through South America, the 
Executive Secretary found so many leading men inter- 
ested in the magazine and its policies that it has been de- 
cided to form an Advisory Editorial Board, consisting of 
about fifteen prominent Latin Americans. Articles pub- 
lished in the magazine are finding an increasingly large 
audience of readers through republication in the leading 
dailies and periodicals of the southern continent. 

(c) The Book Department.—Operated in connection 
with the magazine is a book department, which conducts 
a wholesale and retail mail-order book business with every 
country in Latin America. This Department is the dis- 
tributing agency for the Committee’s literature in Spanish 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY — 187 


and is rendering increasing service to the cause of. the 
gospel in Spanish-speaking countries. Its part in making 
possible the publication of new books has already been 
referred to. 

(d) Preaching Material Service.—There is sent out once 
a month, by the editor of Spanish publications, a sermon 
outline with various suggested treatments of the topic, 
exegesis, illustrative material and references to additional 
sources of information. This goes to about 600 pastors in 
Latin America. To many of them it is the only direct 
connecting link with the great Christian forces of North 
America. Pastors of some denominations do not take 
advantage of this service, and Board secretaries are urged 
to call their attention to it. | 

(e) Press Service—A regular press service for the 
religious press in Latin America, and another for the secu- 
lar press, is maintained by the Committee. ‘These articles 
are sent to nearly a hundred religious periodicals and to 
three hundred secular publications. A surprisingly large 
percentage of the articles are published. There probably 
has never been a publicity campaign, directed from the 
United States to foreign countries, which has. been so 
uniformly successful in securing the acceptance of its 
material. The articles for the secular press, while seldom 
directly religious in character, are all expository of the 
Christian. viewpoint on various great problems and move- 
ments of world interest. ‘They are eagerly welcomed, es- 
pecially by the smaller dailies unable to secure original 
material. on such subjects because of their isolation and 
the prohibitive cost. 


4. Present Centers of Production. 


(a) In the United States——Publishers of good Spanish 
literature in the United States may be roughly divided into 
three classes.. The following houses have a small number 
of Spanish books of a general character on their lists: D. 
Appleton & Company, McGraw-Hill Company, J. B. Lip- 
pincott Company, Macmillan Company, Thomas Nelson 
& Sons, EK. Steiger & Company, Doubleday, Page & 
Company. | 
_ The following publishers issue text-books for schools in 


188 LITERATURE 


Spanish: the American Book Company, Ginn & Com- 
pany, D. C. Heath & Company, and Silver, Burdett & 
Company. 

The following publish religious literature exclusively in 
Spanish and, generally speaking, do not publish for profit: 
the American Tract Society, American Baptist Publica- 
tion Society, Lamar & Barton, The Methodist Book Con- 
cern, Baptist Publishing House (EI Paso, Texas), La Luz 
Evangelica, The Bible House of Los Angeles, La Nueva 
Democracia, The Presbyterian Board of Publication, and 
Vir Publishing Company. 

Of these, only the publishers of text-books are carrying 
on a satisfactory volume of business. The other commer- 
cial publishers are either merely maintaining a Spanish 
department established years ago and endeavoring to sell 
the remainder of the stock on hand, or else they are filling 
the demand for certain standard works which they origi- 
nally had the foresight to publish and are not issuing any 
new books in Spanish. In one or two cases only Spanish 
books subsidized by organizations interested in them are 
published. This is also true of a dozen or more firms not 
listed here which have published one or two Spanish books 
under these circumstances. 

The reason for the comparative success of the text-book 
makers is that they sell directly to schools and colleges in 
Spanish America, disregarding the dealer altogether. 
Their customers are all buyers in wholesale quantities, 
and they find it possible to cultivate their market and carry 
a selling expense that is out of the question for the other 
publishers. 

The stories of the commercial publishers are all alike 
regarding Spanish literature of a general character: High 
selling expense, narrow market caused by lack of contacts 
with retail outlets, and the impossibility of doing business 
on other than a strictly cash basis, because proper credit 
information is unobtainable except at great expense. 
There has been a total failure to build up a substantial 
clientele of local booksellers in the Latin American coun- 
tries. The same may be said of the publishers of religious 
literature, who have been forced to use missionaries as 
agents and to confine themselves to selling through retail 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY — 189 


stores established and subsidized by various religious 
bodies. 

So narrow is the market for religious literature, or even 
for educational and inspirational books of a serious char- 
acter, that none of the commercial publishers will consider 
publication of such books, unless orders can be obtained 
prior to printing that will insure them against loss. 

(b) In Spain.—In spite of what was quoted in the first 
chapter from Semprum, concerning Spain’s lax business 
methods in exploiting the book trade of Latin America, 
she still does the bulk of that business in South America. 
Many of her large publishing houses depend far more on 
their American market than on that at home. There has 
been a large increase in the publishing business of Spain 
recently, as there has been also an improvement in busi- 
ness methods, and especially a new effort to bring out 
books representing the modern viewpoint in pedagogy, 
_ natural science and sociology. 

As for Evangelical publishers, the Sociedad Religiosa 
de Publicaciones is the only house that gives its entire 
attention to such literature, since the Libreria Nacional y 
Extranjera, started by Pastor Fliedner, is now devoting 
its time largely to secular publications. The former house 
does considerable business in Spanish America. Its capi- 
tal, however, is limited, and it can publish only a few 
books each year. 

It may be said, therefore, that the publication abroad 
of any Spanish book on a serious subject is often a losing 
financial venture. Religious literature must practically 
always be subsidized to secure publication. 

Formerly such a subsidy represented almost a total loss 
to the subsidizing agency, because even if the subsidy took 
the form of an order for a certain quantity of the books, 
- they could not all be sold and the cash invested recovered. 
This is no longer the case. With a minimum of con- 
tributed subsidy an order can now be placed with a pub- 
lisher in the United States, Latin America or Europe, and 
the books ordered can be actually sold within a reasonable 
time and the money recovered for similar investment in 
another book. This is done through the Book Department 
of La Nueva Democracia, having close relations with mis- 


190 LITERATURE 


sionary book-stores in all parts of Spanish America. The 
buying power of these stores as a group, combined with 
that of independent customers of La Nueva Democracia 
reached through its agents, is sufficient to assure the sale 
of a reasonable number of any work of general interest. 
While the evils and red tape of a centralized purchasing 
agency for the Evangelical book-stores are avoided under 
this arrangement, the bargaining advantages of their com- 
bined buying power are retained. 

(c) In Spanish America—Following is a fairly com- 
plete list of the agencies publishing religious books in the 
Spanish American countries, omitting agencies not regu- 
larly in the business of book publishing and those that 
have issued only one or two books of this character. 
Corrections and additions to this list are invited. 


Casa Unida de Publicaciones, Mexico (Union). 
Imprenta “ El Inca,” Lima, 

La Casa Editoria, Florida, F. C. C. A., Buenos Aires. 
Imprenta Metodista, Buenos Aires. 

Imprenta “ El Sembrador,” Santiago de Chile (Union). 
El Heraldo Cristiano, Habana (Union). 

Puerto Rico Evangelico, Ponce, P. R. (Union). 

La Nueva Era (Iglesia Presbiteriana), Santiago de Chile. 
Comisién del Centenario (Iglesia Metodista), Santiago. 
La Reforma, Buenos Aires. 

Junta Bautista de Publicaciones, Buenos Aires. 
Imprenta Palmore, Chihuahua, Mexico. 

Casa Bautista de Publicaciones, El Paso, Texas. 
Asociacion Cristiana de Jovenes, Montevideo. 

Casa Bautista de Publicaciones, Leon, Gto., Mexico. 


It is interesting to note that an extensive bibliography 
of Christian literature, issued in 1916, included only five 
of the publishers listed above, the balance of the list 
having come into the field as book publishers since 
that time. 

The greater part of the religious literature published in 
Spanish during the past ten years has been produced in 
Spanish America, where the largest number of Protestant 

adherents are found. ‘This tendency toward localization 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY 191 


of production is, of course, a healthy one. It leads un- 
failingly to the time when Protestant Spanish literature 
will be written and published in the Spanish-speaking 
countries themselves. 

In making comparisons of publishing conditions as 
between Latin America, Spain and the United States, any 
given project may usually be done slightly cheaper in 
Latin America than elsewhere, but under the prevailing 
system of small editions the actual cost of a single book is 
very generally in excess of the cost in the United States or 
in Kurope. ‘This is due to the habit of publishing in each 
country only for the needs of that country, disregarding 
the balance of the Spanish-speaking world. ‘Thus edi- 
tions are small and the price of the book is extravagantly 
high. Agencies in Spain or the United States, having little 
home market, are forced to include all the Spanish lands 
in their plans with the result that their editions are almost 
invariably larger and the price of the book lower. It is 
encouraging to note that in a number of recent instances 
South American missionary publishers have taken note of 
the market outside their own countries. Many illusions as 
to comparative costs in the various countries are held, the 
most deceptive of which is the belief that publishing costs 
are necessarily lower in a country where the currency is 
depreciated in value. If that were true, Germany today 
would be doing the manufacturing of the entire world. 


5. Editorial Problems. 


The production and selection of literature is not the 
least important of literature problems. Correspondence 
with missionaries in evangelistic and educational work 
indicates their needs. Agents of book-stores pass on in- 
formation as to inquiries made of them. 

There is a great wealth of Evangelistic literature in 
English. It is, therefore, most natural to turn to the books 
which have instructed and inspired our missionaries, and 
to attempt to translate them for use on the field. Such 
translations have not been universally acceptable, and 
complaints are numerous and constant. Certain outstand- 
ing books in foreign languages will always have to be 
translated, but these will be few in number, and the work 


192 LITERATURE 


should be done by a thoroughly prepared person, skillful 
in the use of the two languages involved. 

The experience of the Committee on Cooperation in 
Latin America during the years since the Panama Con- 
gress strongly supports the following conclusions regard- 
ing translated literature: 

(1) No translation by an Anglo-Saxon American, how- 
ever well qualified, will escape just criticism from edu- 
cated Spanish American readers. (2) It is almost 
impossible to make a good translation out of a poor one 
by any process of revision. (3) A book of only moderate 
merit written by a Latin American in Spanish is more 
likely to be generally accepted than a translation of a much 
higher grade work originally written in some other lan- 
guage. (4) Where little or no material in Spanish is 
available on a given subject, a valuable work is most likely 
to result from the labors of a Latin American who reads 
English and can write his own impressions after making 
himself familiar with existing English material on the 
same subject. 

If we are right in our thesis that the influence and im- 
portance of Evangelical literature is as great in missionary 
work as that of preaching, then we must give some atten- 
tion to the training of men and women who are gifted and 
facile in the use of the pen. 

How shall we discover them? First, through the 
churches. Prayer meetings, Sunday-schools and young 
people’s meetings provide opportunity for self-expression. 
Young people showing evidence of literary gifts should be 
chosen and sent to our schools for preparation. Second, 
every church has its several schools, and here there is 
constant practice in the art of writing. Teachers should 
be on the lookout for gifted young people and see that full 
scope and opportunity is given them. The pages of school 
and church publications should be open to them. Prizes 
may be offered for the best articles. After the leading 
schools in the land have been utilized, in special cases, 
individuals should be sent to North America, to have a 
year or more under a specialist. 

There is another method of discovering religious writ- 
ers, Cultivate the men and women whose work appears 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY — 193 


in the daily papers, and in the weekly and monthly maga- 
zines. When a real artist of deep culture and spiritual 
insight is found, his attention may be drawn to themes, 
well developed in other tongues, but left untouched in 
Spanish. Frequently writers will be found ready to our 
hands, awaiting the call to this necessary labor. Who can 
say that the Lord has not prepared many St. Pauls, who 
have been trained at the feet of Gamaliel, are ready to be 
shifted from bigotry and conservatism to thoughtful in- 
quiry, and may be led by an Ananias into the full light of 
God’s revelation ? 


6. Publication Problems. 


(a) Quality versus economy.—The primary problem of 
financing has been discussed earlier in this report. 
Probably the most important secondary decision the pub- 
lisher must make is, “ Shall the book be high-grade as 
regards paper, type and binding, or shall an effort be made 
to print the largest possible quantity with the money avail- 
able?’ Somewhere between the extremes of high quality 
and extreme cheapness lies a point which, for the particu- 
lar book under consideration, will give: (1) a retail price 
representing good value for the money, (2) dignified and 
attractive appearance, (3) sufficient durability for the uses 
to which the book is to be put, and (4) an edition large 
enough to supply the probable demand for the finished 
work. It need not be pointed out that these factors will 
vary greatly for different books. A dictionary or a com- 
mentary needs, for instance, a much more durable binding 
than a book which 1s likely to be read but once by each 
buyer. 

(b) Transportation Transportation difficulties usually 
center in the difficulty of communication between various 
parts of the Spanish American world. This is probably 
the greatest handicap to local publication in the various 
Central and South American capitals, and the obstacle that 
makes necessary the publication of a large part of our 
literature in Spain and the United States. Only New 
York and Madrid can reach every part of the Spanish- 
speaking world by direct routes. 

(c) Ownership of Presses—A survey of conditions in 


194 | “LITERATURE 


the Spanish American republics justifies the general con- 
clusion that missionary ownership of printing presses and 
their auxiliary machinery is not profitable. It may have 
distinct advantages, but economy is not one of them. 

The alternative to mission ownership of presses is the 
employment of local printing plants on contract. While 
it is true that a profit must be earned by such plants, the 
net cost to the mission for a given piece of printed matter 
is generally less than would: be the case if the mission 
owned its'own presses. The fact that missionary account- 
ing methods do not usually require that the cost of print- 
ing a book include interest charges on capital invested, 
rent, supervision, extension of credit by the mission, etc., 
generally obscures the actual cost as compared with print- 
ing done by outside contract. 

It should not be forgotten also that the spending of 
money with local merchants ‘invariably increases the 
prestige of the Mission in its field and builds up a certain 
amount of good will in the commercial community, which 
may be exceedingly valuable in certain contingencies,—for 
instance, in combating adverse local legislation. 

(d) National Prejudices—One of the important ob- 
stacles in the way of the localized’ production and distri- 
bution of Spanish literature is the prejudice existing in 
certain countries against literature produced outside their 
own boundaries. In Argentina, for example, the greatest 
prestige is enjoyed by books written and published in 
Argentina. ‘This is quite natural and is true in all civil- 
ized countries. It would seem logical that the public 
would esteem as a second choice books from the authors 
and publishers of other Spanish American countries. 
Such is not the case. Ifa Venezuelan author seeks an 
atidience in Argentina, he is far wiser to secure publica- 
tion of his works in Madrid, Paris, or even in New York, 
than'to attempt to circulate them through a publisher in 
Caracas. In all the Spanish republics books from the 
home publishers and from Spain are most favorably 
received, with Paris third in popular favor, the other 
great’ cities of Europe and North America fourth, and 
publications from the other Latin republics last. 

The membership of the Evangelical churches, if shiey 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY = 195 


choose to combat such prejudice intelligently, can do a 
service not only'to Christian literature in particular but 
to all literature. If we consider the inability of the aver- 
age man to read books in other languages than his own as 
a handicap to our civilization, what shall we say of a con- 
dition which permits him only a small portion of the 
literary riches of his own tongue? 


7. Circulation Problems. 

(a) Distribution centers-——The establishment of local 
book-stores under missionary ownership and_ control 
seems to be a necessity under present conditions, if the 
Christian literature produced is to be effectively dis- 
tributed. For reasons given below, it should be regarded 
as the most expedient present method of distribution, but 
in no sense a permanent institution. 

Our present concern should be with improving the ef- 
ficiency of these stores and encouraging their geograph- 
ical distribution in such a way that no important section 
of Latin America shall be without convenient access 
to them. | 

There should be missionary book-stores fully stocked 
with Christian literature of all types in at least each capi- 
tal city of Latin America. Jn the larger countries addi- 
tional stores would be required in perhaps one or two 
other centers, but only in places where the local over-the- 
counter business may be expected to be as large as that in 
the capital city. The principal emphasis in such stores 
should be placed upon the development of a mail-order 
book business. Space should be allotted them in the de- 
nominational periodicals of all churches not maintaining 
their own general literature depositories, and every effort 
made by pastors, missionaries and others in authority to 
facilitate the growth of their business. 

(b) Training of agents—The problem of. securing 
capable managers for missionary book-stores already es- 
tablished and planned for the future, is a most pressing 
one. So’far as known there has never been a man se- 
lected in the home church, educationally supervised, tech- 
nically trained and sent to the Spanish American mission 
field for the express purpose of publishing and circulating 


196 LITERATURE 


Christian literature. Yet under such handicaps our litera- 
ture work has probably progressed much further than 
medical or educational work would have under the same 
untrained leadership. 

A recent survey of missionary book-stores, made under 
the auspices of the Committee on Cooperation in Latin 
America, reveals that the only stores at present in good 
financial condition, and which may, in general terms, be 
considered to have conspicuously succeeded in the purpose 
for which they were established, are those in charge of 
managers of many years’ experience in missionary 
bookselling. 

If the large investment already made in mission presses 
and book-stores is to be safeguarded, it seems necessary 
that the mission boards recognize the importance of the 
literature work to the extent of insisting upon properly 
qualified men to run such enterprises. The day of the 
amateur in the mission book-store is passed just as surely 
as the day of the untrained nurse in the hospital. Literary 
evangelism must take its place by the side of personal, 
medical and educational evangelism in so far as specialized 
training of candidates is concerned. 

(c) Cost of distribution—The methods of distributing 
books to the ultimate consumer rank as follows in order 
of economy: (1) Mail order from the publisher; (2) 
Mail order from a large dealer; (3) Local book-stores; 
(4) Colporters, or canvassing agents. 

Mail-order distribution is both economical and efficient 
when accompanied by a proper amount of advertising. 
One of the primary functions of the réligious periodical 
should be upbuilding the business of selling Christian 
literature. The Bible, encyclopedias and expensive tech- 
nical works are proper subjects for the canvasser. but in 
the latter two cases he is being increasingly replaced by a 
mail-order campaign energized by extensive advertising. 

(d) Relation to commercial book-stores.—The local 
book-store, although neither the most economical nor the 
most productive source of sales, seems on the whole the 
most satisfactory channel for retail distribution. The 
commercial book trade has found this to be the case, es- 
pecially as the book business lends itself readily to com- 


AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY 197 


binations with other dignified lines of merchandise such 
as drugs, art goods, stationery, music and_ periodical 
literature. Our ultimate aim should be the establish- 
ment of relations with the ordinary commercial book- 
store which will permit the cost of selling our religious 
books to be shared by the makers of every book in the 
world. 

There are two methods by which this desirable commer- 
cial relationship may be established with perfect propriety 
and to the mutual advantage of publishers of religious 
literature and the retail booksellers. 

First, missionary publishing agencies will find that some 
of their books can be sold without qualms by a sincere 
Roman Catholic bookseller who is anxious not to offend 
the Church to which he and most of his customers belong. 
Books on social, family and personal ethics and conduct; 
books on health and hygiene; books on thrift, industry and 
ambition ; books on the justification and necessity of edu- 
cation in morals, are almost always of such a character as 
to be acceptable to any bookseller. 

Second, we can encourage the entrance of members of 
our Evangelical churches into the book and _ stationery 
business, even to the extent of giving them financial aid, 
in return for selling privileges for our books. This 
sounds, upon first thought, as a rather revolutionary sug- 
gestion, but it is at least as practical an expenditure of 
missionary money as opening book-stores managed by 
North Americans and selling only books making little 
or no appeal to the great majority of the local population. 


8. Religious Periodicals. 


With perhaps the single exception of Evangelical 
hymns, at no other point in missionary propaganda has it 
been so difficult to get a harmonious product, given the 
conflicting tastes and concepts of the foreign and national 
workers and the reading public, as in the making of the 
religious periodical. ‘The missionary, set in the habits 
of his home land, too often over-anxious as to mere de- 
nominational promotion, unskilled in the language and a 
novice as to public sentiment and popular taste, has offered 
many shining illustrations of what ought not to be. The 


198 LITERATURE 


national worker, understanding his public and with fair 
command of the language, has been usually utterly at sea 
as to the technique of newspaper making, prone to be 
satisfied with mechanical imperfections and literary mon- 
strosities that cried to heaven. The reading public has 
included on the one hand inexperienced and undeveloped 
converts, interested mainly in local church affairs, and on 
the other the cultured and critical outsider, prone to judge 
by appearances and glad enough of any occasion for 
ridicule. bn 

Along what road does improvement, the hope of the 
future, lie? It is not-easy to say. Shall there be less of 
propaganda? Certainly the denominational note may well 
be muted. What has been a burden to Evangelical religion 
in North America—the multiplicity of churches,—need 
not be imported into other lands. But as to Christian 
propaganda, it is useless to try to conceal the fact that it 
is for this that the Evangelical periodicals exist. A bal- 
ance must somehow be struck. ‘The taste of non-Evan- 
gelical readers must not be constantly vexed by a purely 
routine and esoteric treatment of the Christian faith. ‘The 
editor who cannot perceive the larger relationships of the 
kingdom of heaven, its social, political, industrial implica- 
tions, who is not able to shift his point of view to that of 
the mildly curious but indifferent and half-way hostile 
outside reader, has missed his calling. 

This necessity for an intuitive grasp of public sentiment 
and of national tastes and preferences will inevitably rule 
out the missionary as editor. His tenure of such an office 
will always be but a temporary expedient. It is only the 
Brazilian who understands Brazilians, the Chilean who 
knows Chile. But so far only apprenticeship in the art ° 
of editing has been possible. Our schools should offer 
special courses, if not in journalism as such, at least in 
studies especially adapted to fit the youth of both sexes 
for the exacting requirements of newspaper work. And 

editors should be hospitable to new writers, encouraging 
the young people to try their wings. We shall not lack 
material, if only it can be developed. 

The ideal weekly church paper will strike a nice balance 
between the publicity given to routine church affairs, the 


THE BIBLE IN SOUTH AMERICA 199 


discussion of policies, doctrines and the like, and the 
appeal to the general reader. 

The general church paper carefully edited, may well 
become also the family paper. But there is need of special 
publications for the young people. It is mostly the young 
who read. Their tastes must be consulted. Moral and 
religious concepts and implication make their impact upon 
children while they are still young. There is a Christian 
literature of adventure, of sports, of scientific and me- 
chanical: description and illustration. In Latin America, 
especially, so much of the dominant thought in cultured 
circles is atheistic, that it is important to supply the young 
people early with a prophylactic against the disease of a 
godless world. But the young people’s paper of Hispanic 
America must be a Latin American paper. It is of the 
very essence of the situation that it be indigenous. The 
pastors and other leaders in church work will also need 
their type of technical periodical. 

Of La Nueva Democracia it is only fair to remind all 
concerned that in the nature of the case it cannot be every- 
thing that some of its many readers might desire. One 
group would have it more theological, another less. For 
some it is too serious, for others not profound enough. 
Its editors have shown instant willingness to make it serve 
every end and demand that are possible in view of its size 
and limitations. It is to be hoped that while its friends 
continue to criticize it and to offer suggestions, they will 
not cease to support it and to recommend it to others. 
For the magazine is so much better than nothing, than the 
void which existed before it was brought into being, that 
its promoters cannot fail to rejoice at the measure of suc- 
cess to which it has already attained. The collaboration 
of such men and women of Hispanic America as those 
_ whose names now frequently appear in its columns would 
seem alone sufficient proof that its career has not been a 
vain one. 


III. Tue Brsue In SoutH AMERICA. 
The great Sarmiento, father of popular education in 
Argentina, pays this tribute to the Bible: “ The reading of 
the Bible furnishes the basis of popular education, which 


200 LITERATURE 


has changed the character of the nations which possess it. 
With the Bible in their hands and for the sake of the 
Bible, the father of all books, the English emigrants 
founded in the north of our continent the most powerful 
state in the world.” 

In Mexico recently the federal Department of Educa- 
tion began the publication of popular editions of the 
world’s great classics, primarily that the newly-opened 
public libraries in that country might be supplied cheaply 
with a nucleus of the primary literature of mankind. In- 
cluded in this group was a volume containing the four 
Gospels. ; 

The Book of Books is the natural cornerstone of the 
edifice of religious literature. Its production and circula- 
tion are of the most vital importance in the development 
of the spiritual and intellectual life of Christian nations. 

Evangelical Christianity has always proceeded by the 
preaching of the gospel, based upon the circulation of the 
Word of God. Without the Bible the missionary has had 
little or no success. In all new countries with strange lan- 
guages it has been necessary first for the missionary to 
learn the language and translate the Scriptures before he 
has been able to preach with conviction and power and win 
converts as a result. 

Recently the agent of the Bible Society visited a de- 
serted hacienda called Cabuyal, in Ecuador, where he 
found a strange school in charge of a man who was con- 
verted as a result of pondering a verse of Scripture he had 
heard from the lips of a street preacher. This man had 
procured a Spanish Bible, which he was using as a text- 
book for the children whom he had gathered together. 
This is the only school for miles around, and the teacher 
is paid by donations sent in by the parents. The single 
Bible was used as a text-book, the leaves being passed 
around from pupil to pupil. This is another evidence of 
the value of the Bible in the hands of a consecrated man. 

A splendid edition of the New Testament in Spanish 
has recently been published as a result of several years’ 
work by a commission of translators, working in Spain. 
This has not been entirely accepted by the churches, which 
prefer the familiar version used for many years. The 


THE BIBLE IN SOUTH AMERICA 201 


new version, however, is eagerly accepted and preferred 
by the general public. The standard edition of the Old 
Testament is known as the version by Cipriano de 
Valera. This should be revised, but not necessarily 
retranslated. 

In Brazil there are three principal versions in Portu- 
guese. The new translation, which is most largely used, is 
reported to be far from perfect, and a thorough revision 
is necessary. 

The American Bible Society and the British and For- 
eign Bible Society have labored together for many years, 
under a certain working agreement. The territory outside 
of the principal centers is fairly well divided, but there 
remain a number of sections which have not yet been 
reached. There is some rivalry in the matter of distribu- 
tion and sales, but only such competition as is necessary 
in the development of a successful business through the 
incentive to excel. 

There is the finest cooperation between these Societies 
and the missionaries and national preachers. Representa- 
tives of the Societies present the call of the Bible in the 
different churches and take collections for the general sup- 
port of the work. In Argentina this collection amounted 
to $4,125 in a recent year. 

The second most important feature of the work after 
the translation and publication of the Bible is its circula- 
tion. The Bible Societies necessarily take the initiative, 
using various methods. ‘They have missionaries and na- 
tional workers as correspondents in all parts of the field. 
To these representatives Bibles, Testaments and portions 
may be sent and disposed of on commission. In some in- 
stances missionaries and local churches become direct 
agencies and agree to cover restricted areas for the So- 
_ ciety. In these cases the books are furnished free and the 
expenses are largely met from sales. In some countries 
of South America book-stores handle the Bibles as a part 
of their regular stock. The principal method, however, is 
that of the colporteur, who is the direct trained agent of 
the Society. He goes principally into new territory where 
the missionary has not penetrated, and where railroads do 
not run and there is no regular means of transportation. 


202 LITERATURE 


Isolated hamlets and homes long distances. apart are 
visited and much good is done. ‘The circulation of the 
Scriptures in South America ‘has been limited only by the 
amount of money which could be appropriated for this 
purpose. The supplies are frequently exhausted, and, it 
becomes difficult to secure enough Bibles for sale. After 
an enthusiastic meeting in one town in Chile a young man 
approached the agent seeking to purchase one hundred 
Bibles to be used in his school as a text-book, but these 
could not be furnished, as the supply had already been 
exhausted. 

A. most interesting story has been received from the 
colporteur who visited the towns along the Amazon River 
and its tributaries. In one place he sold a Bible to a rub- 
ber merchant who had no cash and so paid for it with a 
kilo of rubber: In another section he found people work- 
ing in a territory where they were frequently attacked and 
many killed by the Indians; but this agent had the same 
story to tell, that before he had completed his trip his 
stock of Bibles gave out, and it was necessary to return 
for another supply. 

The work of Bible distribution has been so successful 
that the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church has 
changed. Two of the leading bishops in Argentina urged 
their people, in the following language, to buy the Bible: 
“The Bible can and ought to be read daily. It ought to 
lie open if possible on the table, so that everyone in the 
house may read it. Everyone should read the Bible, 
Catholics and non-Catholics; it is the written Word of 
God, embalmed with His holy breath and love. It has 
been addressed to us from heaven above.” An advertise- 
ment appeared in one South American paper, advertising 
a Catholic Bible for sale at $75 cash, and $85 on the instal- 
ment plan.. The price was prohibitive and very few people 
could afford to buy it. The Bible Societies sell a very 
good edition of the Bible at $1.50. 

Recently there passed away in Rio de Janeiro a distin- 
guished Brazilian gentleman, Dr. José Carlos Rodrigues. 
As a young law student he came in contact with a Bible 
left by a colporteur at an obscure and lonely farm house. 
The influence of the Word never left him during a long 


THE BIBLE IN SOUTH AMERICA 203 


and illustrious life. ‘Through twenty-five years of bril- 
liant service as head of the Journal of Commerce, the 
greatest daily paper in the Portuguese language, Dr. 
Rodrigues continued a devout student of the Bible. Upon 
his retirement he devoted himself to writing and publish- 
ing two large volumes of 1,357 pages, entitled ‘“‘ Historical 
and Critical Studies on the Old Testament.’ + He desired 
to make the Bible and its rich and indisputable truths 
known to the people. While upon his death bed, he re- 
quested a visiting clergyman to read passages from the 
Bible and pray with him. Dr. Rodrigues had accumulated 
a considerable library of most valuable works on the Bible 
and religion. After his death this library was purchased 
by the American ambassador and presented to a committee 
of trustees, which will probably house it and make it avail- 
able for the use of pastors and Bible scholars in Brazil. 

In looking after the needs of the population speaking 
Spanish and Portuguese, the Indians have not been ne- 
glected. Translations have been made of various por- 
tions of Scripture by missionaries working among them, 
and these editions have been circulated everywhere. Re- 
cent reference has been made to the portion prepared for 
the Mapouche Indians, a branch of the Araucanians in 
southern Chile. A New Testament has been published in 
the language of the Cholos or half castes in Bolivia, which 
is a dialect made up of a combination of the Quechua and 
Spanish. This work is being followed up very energeti- 
cally, and portions of the Scriptures in time will be pre- 
pared for the use of most of the cae tribes in South 
America. 

One missionary has well written: 


“Tt is not easy to estimate the value of the printed page. 
_ Perhaps very few have ever realized what it would mean to 
return to the times when there was not even one printed 
Bible. It would do us all good to meditate on this a little in 
order to appreciate what the Bible Societies are doing in 
printing and shipping Bibles to every part of the world. 


1 A monograph covering his life work is issued by the American 
Bible Society. 


204 LITERATURE 


The Bible is the only fountain of knowledge of the way of 
salvation in these countries, as elsewhere. Directly or indi- 
rectly, it has to do with all gospel work. The immense labor 
of translating, printing and distributing to the ends of the 
earth is a marvelous achievement.” 


IV. PresENtT UNDERTAKINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA, 
1. Present Activities. | 


The present facilities for the production and distribu- 
tion of Evangelical literature may be visually presented by 
the following chart. While the actual location of each 
enterprise is shown, the influence of a union paper, for 
instance, frequently transcends national boundaries and 
supplies at least a part of the need for such an agency in 
nearby countries: 


Union Mission Books Tracts Union Denom. Union Mission 
Press Press Publ. Publ. Paper Papers Store Store 


Argentina .. x x x x bt 
Beazils cae ke x ne x x x x“ ms 
ales incin ve x ae x x 
Colombia ... x x x x 
Hcnador isis x x x 
Paraguay ... 

Reru Ws eek 3, 4 he x x 
Uruguay .. x x x 

Venezuela .. x x x se x 


Though the number of crosses on the chart does not 
indicate the amplitude of the literary activity of the coun- 
try, it does indicate how many of the possible instrumen- 
talities of literary evangelism are in use. It is interesting 
to note that, while none of the South American countries 
make use of all the channels listed, in North America, 
Cuba, Porto Rico and Mexico would have a cross in every 
space on such a chart. 

These South American countries have produced ap- 
proximately half of the total body of religious books now 
in print and available for the use of Latin American Prot- 
estants, the United States, Mexico and Spain supplying 
most of the other half. 


PRESENT UNDERTAKINGS 205 


The only literary activity found in practically every 
place where a mission station is located or a church is 
established is the preparation and publication of tracts. In 
only one country, Peru, has this been placed upon any 
systematic basis through the organization of a national 
Tract Society or other centralized body. It is evident that 
great economies could be effected along these lines, even 
though such an enterprise included within its purview only 
those tracts dealing with subjects of a non-denominational 
character. It would be entirely feasible to set up an or- 
ganization to cover all of Spanish America, issuing tracts 
in huge quantities, bearing the national imprint of the 
country in which they are to be distributed. Whether the 
interested cooperation of missionaries in their use could 
be secured is, however, another question; for one of the 
chief reasons for the diversity and generality of tract pro- 
duction is the fact that few workers will make enthusiastic 
and intelligent use of a tract not prepared under their own 
supervision, or at least within their own communion. 

The advantages of centralized production are so great, 
on the other hand, that the most elaborate measures to 
secure the approval by large numbers of missionaries and 
national leaders of a proposed publication would be 
justified. 


2. Effectiveness of Present Agencies. 

Reports from the field point directly to four major con- 
clusions regarding the effectiveness of present means of 
supplying the South American churches with the literature 
they require: (1) That no agency of either production or 
distribution not in full-time charge of a trained and ex- 
perienced person is realizing even a fraction of its full 
possibilities. (2) That in the allotment of mission funds 
the literature work is not considered as of primary neces- 
sity. (3) That only native authorship can produce a 
religious literature of high character, adapted to the 
psychology of the Latin American reader. (4) That no 
increase in the quantity or quality of authorship and 
production facilities can advance the ultimate aims of 
Christian literature, unless a greatly increased and im- 
proved means of circulation is provided, 


206 LITERATURE 


The first conclusion is not generally realized in those 
countries where the condition mentioned does not obtain. 
The second is generally regarded as a mistaken but un- 
avoidable policy. The third is held to be an ideal so 
impossible of. attainment that no case has come to the 
attention of the Commission in which any practical steps 
have been taken to encourage, reward or train native 
authors, save in a few entirely personal contacts between 
individual missionaries and nationals. The fourth con- 
clusion is almost unanimously put forth in the field re- 
ports and is regarded as the key to the financial difficulties 
of the literature program and as having an important 
bearing on authorship, translation activities and mission- 
ary policy. “ More and better book-stores,” or ‘‘ more and 
better book salesmen ”’ is the keynote of the field reports, 
ranging in practical application from suggestions for im- 
proving a local book-store to plans for an elaborate system 
of colportage covering the continent. 


3. Outside Agencies Distributing Evangelical Literature. 

The questionnaire sent to workers in the field contained 
a query designed to ascertain the extent to which secular 
book-stores act as distributors of Christian literature. 
Such contacts were found to be negligible. Suggestions 
are made in other sections of this report, showing how the 
situation may be remedied 1n part. 


4. Books Required in the Immediate Future. 


The specific recommendations of the various field com- 
missions for the writing or translation of books are given 
in full as follows: 


COLOMBIA 


Daily Light on the Daily Path. (Already published.) 
The Fact of Christ, Simpson. (Already published. ) 

A history of the Reformation. 

A history of the Protestant Church. 

A book on the origin of the Bible. (Now in preparation.) 


RIVER PLATE 
A new church history. 


PRESENT UNDERTAKINGS 207 


A commentary on the Bible. (Now in preparation.) 
A refutation of theosophical ideas. 
A treatise on Christianity and evolution. 


And new editions of the following publications of the 
American Tract Society, which are now out of print: 


Bible Dictionary, Rand. (Now reprinted.) 
Concordance of the Bible, Sloan. 

The Gospels Explained, Ryle. (Four volumes.) 
New Testament with Notes, cheaper edition desired. 
Christian Evidences, Mair. 

Nights with the Romanists. 

Cause and Cure of Infidelity. 

Lucila. 

John Wesley, Neely. (Methodist Book Concern. ) 


And translations of the following works: 


Meaning of Prayer, Fosdick. 

Meaning of Faith, Fosdick. (Translated.) 

Meaning of Service, Fosdick. 

Social Principles of Jesus, Rauschenbusch. 

Christ and Human Needs, F. W. Forster. (German.) 
The Religions, Nathan Soderbl6m. (French.) 

The Enigma of the World, Charles Secretan. (French.) 


CHILE 


Concordance of the Bible. 
Commentaries on the Bible. 
Devotional books for young people. 
Books on sex hygiene. 

A new Evangelical hymnal. 


PERU 
A simple introduction to the Bible. 
Life and Times of Jesus. (Based on Edersheim. ) 
One-volume commentary on the Bible. (Now in prepa- 
ration. ) | 
Concordance of the Bible. 
The Scriptures of Truth, Sidney Collett. (Adapted.) 


208 LITERATURE 


Book relating Biblical and secular history. 

Book on the Apocrypha. 

Book on archeological discovery and the Bible. 
Short sermons suited to public reading in churches. 
A positive presentation of Protestant doctrine. 

Book on Protestantism and national progress. 
Stories for young people illustrating practical Christianity. 
Book on the historical continuity of Protestantism. 
Book on Biblical prophecy. 

Meaning of Faith, Fosdick. (Translated.) 
Meaning of Prayer, Fosdick. 

Reconstruction of Religion, Elwood. 

Men, Women and God, Gray. (Already published.) 


VENEZUELA 


The Christ We Forget, Wilson. 

God’s Method with Man, Morgan. 

A Castaway, F. B. Meyer. 

Theological texts for training of pastors. 

A history of the Evangelical Church in Venezuela. 
Manual for day-school Bible study. 


This list is chiefly remarkable because of the few dupli- 
cations—showing the scope and variety of the need as seen 
by various authorities. Another feature is that practi- 
cally no militantly anti-Catholic material is asked for and 
no books discussing the doctrinal differences that are 
popularly reputed to be essentially characteristic of Prot- 
estantism. All the reports stress the importance of a con- 
cordance, of Bible commentaries, and of other homiletic 
helps for preachers. Some of the books requested are 
already in print, one of them since 1915, unknown to the 
group recommending their publication. In a number of 
cases the subject upon which a book is thought necessary 
is covered with considerable adequacy by books already 
published, some of them under titles not fully revelatory 
of their contents. In many instances new books are 
wanted because of the unsatisfactory form of the present 
ones—a cheaper edition is requested, or an exhaustive 
treatment of a subject is desired instead of the brief 
presentation now available. 


THE FUTURE PROGRAM 209 


V. THe Futur&é PRoGRAM FOR LITERATURE PRODUCTION. 


The field reports favor, without exception, the extension 
and expansion of the literature program. All recognize 
the printed word as a valuable means of spreading the 
gospel and of regenerating individuals and societies. Dif- 
ferences of opinion arise only over the course that the 
expansion should take. Periodicals, tracts, books and 
contributed articles to the secular press each have their 
enthusiastic supporters as the most promising avenue of 
activity, but it is significant to note that none of these 
approaches to the reading public is condemned as un- 
worthy of its cost in time and money. Wastefulness is 
possible, of course, and should be particularly guarded 
against in the indiscriminate distribution of tracts, 


1. Kinds of Literature Most Needed. 

An inquiry under this head elicited a wide variety of 
replies, with agreement principally upon theological texts 
for seminary use and on “good literature for young 
people,” though only one report is at all specific on the 
latter point. None of the reports reveal any plans for 
educating the reading habits of young people in the Evan- 
gelical fold, which are admittedly bad, and which there is 
little reason to suppose would improve through the mere 
presence of clean literature. The character of Spanish 
fiction supplied to young people in Latin America cannot 
be changed except through the creation of a demand for 
something better, or through elimination of certain types 
of books through official censorship. 

It would seem evident, therefore, that an important edu- 
cational opportunity confronts every worker in impressing 
upon church members the mentally depressive results of 
reading poor literature and the enjoyment and stimulation 
to be gained from worthwhile books. Certainly the sup- 
port of Evangelicals should be thrown also to the support 
of legal restrictions on books of positively evil character. 
No law can prevent the publication of mere literary trash. 


2. Non-religious Literature. 
In answer to a question as to the Church’s responsibility 
for furnishing its constituency with high-grade general 


210 LITERATURE 


literature, there is general agreement with the language of 
the Peru report: ‘“ Responsibility—none; but a great 
privilege.” In one report the interesting thesis is ad- 
vanced that no responsibility exists, because the mission- 
ary Boards are without sufficient funds for the purpose! 

After a careful analysis of the situation, it is clear that 
a very close relation exists between the meeting of this 
need and the financing of missionary book-stores. ‘This 
will be discussed more fully in the final section of this 
Report. 

To most observers, the reading of fiction seems a 
normal part of intellectual life everywhere. ‘Therefore 
fiction of a type that will not undermine character or 
stultify the teachings of the Church is a necessity in the 
lives of Evangelical young people. The Church may not 
engage in the active production of such books, but it 
should not fail to encourage and support the writers, pub- 
lishers and booksellers through whom secular literature of 
a high type is supplied to its membership. 


3. Periodicals. 

Answers to questionnaires circulated in South America 
express approval of the publication of a general magazine 
such as La Nueva Democracia. Its contents and edi- 
torial policy are the subject of many suggestions, nearly 
all of them meritorious, but impossible of complete com- 
bination in a single publication. Most workers recognize 
that La Nueva Democracia cannot be a pedagogical re- 
view, a political forum and an Evangelistic tract all in one 
—and it is not attempting to be any of these. One field 
report criticizes the magazine, because it is not sufficiently 
Evangelical in character, while another report suggests 
that national religious papers as now published ought to 
contain “articles of the Nueva Democracia type.” This 
illustrates the difficulty of harmonizing the desires of 
those interested in the magazine and anxious to see it 
make the most of its opportunities. 

Those interested in exclusively religious journals of a 
high type should support in every possible way such pub- 
lications as “ La Reforma,’ of Buenos Aires, which for 
many years has been striving to meet the need for a Span- 


REGIONAL LITERATURE CENTER 211 


ish organ given to treatment of religious topics of world- 
wide interest from the’ Evangelical viewpoint. The 
“ Revista Evangélica,’ of ‘Chile, is another newer enter- 
prise of similar character but designed more particularly 
to meet the homiletic needs of pastors. “The development 
of talented Latin American writers can be promoted in no 
better way than by encouraging them to contribute regu- 
larly to the columns of these magazines. 

In the field’ of periodical literature the hopelessness of 
securing a national hearing for denominational periodicals 
is everywhere admitted, but the establishment and support 
of union Evangelical papers is held back by the equally 
general conviction that there must be a denominational 
organ of some kind to carry local religious news and an- 
nouncements, and for the further doctrinal instruction of 
new converts. One field report makes the point that both 
a national Evangelical journal and the necessary local 
bulletin can be supported, if a conscious effort is made by 
all concerned to keep the latter from attempting the con- 
quest of a high place in the general periodical field for 
itself (at large cost and with little chance of success) ; 
and if, at the same time, the support of every Mission and 
organized church is enlisted to make the union magazine 
an adequate spokesman in the nation at large for the prin- 
ciples, practices and programs of Evangelical Christianity. 


4. Encouragement of Native Authorship. 


From no field is there a report of a systematic plan for 
transferring the burden of literary creation and translation 
from the alien hands of the missionary to qualified Latin 
Americans, though practically all recognize the need of 
such a plan. This remains one of the most pressing un- 
solved problems. ‘The Church cannot forever receive its 
instruction and record its history in a foreign tongue. 


VI. Tue Recionar LITERATURE CENTER. 
Opinion is unanimous that without Christian literature 
the Church cannot grow. The only practical source of 
such literature is a book-store and press so equipped and 
so located as to serve well the largest possible territory. 
Attention is invited to the extensive discussion of admin- 


212 LITERATURE 


istrative problems of such enterprises in Section II of 
this Report. Experts on the field have given their judg- 
ment also on the following administrative questions: 


1. Should Each Region Have a Fully Equipped Publish- 
ing House? 


By this is meant the ownership of a printing plant and 
a selling agency. Perhaps the best summary of judg- 
ments on this point is to say that in all fields it was con- 
sidered desirable, if it could be financially supported; in 
some fields it was thought that such support could be 
obtained only if all the Evangelical interests in the coun- 
try used the plant; while in no South American field was 
ownership of a printing plant declared an absolute neces- 
sity to the Evangelical propaganda. 


2. Should Book Publication Be Centralized? 


It is generally agreed that centralization means econ- 
omy, but that it is likely to mean a certain dampening of 
local initiative. Perhaps the solution is best presented by 
the report from Colombia, which says, “ Centralization 
discourages initiative and the development of national 
writers; diffusion and regionalism mean increased cost of 
production. Therefore, for standard works, expensive 
or large editions, centralization should be achieved; for 
papers, pamphlets, and many small books, diffusion 
is best.” 

It is interesting to note that this is precisely the policy 
which has gradually evolved, through sheer force of cir- 
cumstances, in the years since the Panama Congress. It 
has proven impossible to produce in any general center 
the many books needed to meet distinctly local needs of 
the national religious development, and it has likewise 
been found impracticable for any small group to produce 
such a work as a concordance or the one-volume com- 
mentary on the Bible upon which the Committee on Co- 
operation in Latin America has recently begun work. 

Another matter for the immediate future which cannot 
posibly be handled regionally is the provision of an or- 
ganization to create, edit and publish a full course of 
uniform Sunday School lessons for Spanish America. 


REGIONAL LITERATURE CENTER 213 


adapted to the purpose and entirely distinct from those 
now used by the English-speaking world. This will have 
to be a centrally directed task and yet will have to be 
almost entirely the work of Latin Americans. It cannot 
be done by Anglo-Saxons in New York or London and 
may furnish the first complete test of the readiness of the 
Latin American religious leaders to assume the burden of 
providing their churches with needed literature, inde- 
pendent of outside aid. 

To this dual plan of centralized and local book pro- 
duction, the report from Chile adds a recommendation for 
the appointment of a qualified General Literature Secre- 
tary, who will be in touch with mission Boards at the 
home base and who will at the same time act as a coordi- 
nating officer for special literature committees set up by 
the regional Committees on Cooperation, these local com- 
mittees to organize and assume the direction of the liter- 
ary activities in their territories. They will also make 
available to the central office the services of such local 
authors, translators and editors as may be able to con- 
tribute to the accomplishment of arduous and expensive 
literary tasks under way in the central office. These local 
committees would keep themselves informed of all literary 
effort in their fields and report to the General Secretary, 
who would transmit the reports to other fields. This 
would give wide advertisement to books in course of 
preparation and would prevent duplication of effort. 


3. Should Publishing Houses and Book-stores Be Subsi- 
dized or Self-supporting? 

This question arises in connection with both union and 
denominational enterprises and ties itself up closely with 
the problem of Church responsibility for furnishing non- 
religious literature. 

Advocates of self-support contend that the expansion 
of activities to a large volume can come only through the 
reinvestment of profits in the business; while in a subsi- 
dized enterprise this expansion is limited, because the 
larger the volume of business, the greater the loss and 
consequently the less successful the enterprise appears to 
those providing the subsidy. 


214 LITERATURE 


Proponents of subsidized operation to permit selling 
books below cost claim that, unless a subsidy is given, a 
religious literature center is forced to handle what is 
profitable rather than what is good, resulting in at least a 
partial defeat of its: primary object—the distribution of 
large quantities of Christian literature. 

It is ‘at this point that the question of non-religious 
literature enters, for it is quite possible to maintain a 
book-store on a self-supporting basis, if books on educa- 
tion, philosophy, science anda certain amount of clean 
fiction are also carried in stock. Experience in Peru, 
Santo. Domingo, and other centers where this plan is in 
effect, makes it difficult to’ believe that these additional 
lines have not increased the amount of strictly religious 
material actually placed in the hands of the people. 

“It is also well to point out that, where a subsidized store 
selling religious literature is continued in operation over a 
period of years, it effectively prevents the entrance into 
that business of members of the Evangelical churches who 
might otherwise be attracted to it as a means of livelihood. 
For a strictly commercial house could not compete with 
the subsidized store, and would, in addition, find its cus- 
tomers accustomed to pay something less than a fair value 
for religious books. 

If the ultimate aim is to circulate religious literature 
through regular stores owned by Evangelicals, it cannot be 
done by the establishment of book-stores doing business 
on a basis that antagonizes their commercial competitors, 
discourages the entrance of Evangelical Christians into 
the business and effectively hinders the fixing of fair 
price standards. Manufacturers interested in increasing 
the use of typewriters in Spanish America did not begin 
their efforts by establishing retail agencies selling type- 
writers at less than cost. 


4. Other Methods of Circulation. 


In some localities it is thought that a carefully trained 
corps of retail canvassers could be used to advantage in 
distributing other religious literature as well as Bibles. 
Certainly the volume of sales would be larger than that of 
the colporteurs of the Bible Societies, but it would still be 





LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 215 


a losing venture financially, because of the great. variety 
of books that would have to be carried, the difficulty of 
preserving the books in salable condition and the impossi- 
bility of giving colporteurs the same familiarity with fifty 
different books which enables them to sell the Bible so 
effectively. If considered in the light of promotional 
work designed to open up new territories for a central 
literature depository, to acquaint additional people with 
the house and to advertise its products, the actual financial 
loss on such colportage might be well justified by the in- 
creased mail-order business resulting from. it. 

If those interested in the possibilities of colportage 
might have access to the actual records of receipts and 
expenses of a number of Bible colporteurs or of others 
engaged in this work, a better judgment. of its practicabil- 
ity for general bookselling might be formed. It is quite 
possible that the Bible Societies might be willing to fur- 
nish such figures to persons having a Seca 9 eave interest 
in them, 


VII. Literature IN PORTUGUESE, 


While much of the previous chapters, concerning the 
machinery of production and circulation of literature, is 
applicable to all parts of Latin America, the material was 
obtained largely from Spanish-speaking sources. 

The production and circulation of Portuguese literature 
is confined to one country, Brazil. It has therefore been 
deemed wise and proper to insert by itself the ‘nbeees sent 
from Brazil. 


1. The Literature Actually Available for Use. 

A survey of the Christian literature actually available 
for use in Brazil shows that the Christian public, is not 
well acquainted with the material already possessed and, 
therefore, is not using it.. This is due to the following 
causes: (1) Literature from. missionary, and native 
sources produced by one denomination is not ordinarily 
used by other denominations, because pastors, church of- 
ficers and other leaders are afraid of sectarian propaganda 
through literature produced and circulated by agencies 
other than their own. And this fear has frequently been 


216 LITERATURE 


justified. (2) Some books and pamphlets used by the 
pioneers, which have rendered good service and should 
now be in use, are out of print; and no one is reprinting 
and circulating them. (3) A systematic and regular col- 
portage work, established by the pioneers, has become dis- 
continued or disorganized during many years; the result 
is that the habit of reading and studying Christian books 
has not been formed by the new generations. (4) The 
supply of literature, since the American Tract Society and 
other agencies have discontinued their depositories, is 
quite irregular. (5) Authors, specially in the native 
churches, have had no hope of seeing their books printed, 
and so their production has been very meagre. (6) The 
lack of financial backing for small, private book-stores, 
scattered throughout the Evangelical communities, and 
the inadequate missionary equipment of existing publish- 
ing houses before the establishment of the new presses. 
(7) The pressure of a utilitarian spirit sweeping over the 
country, which does not conduce to cultural reading. 
Hence reading in the true sense is not now emphasized 
by a people whose masses have a large percentage of 
illiterary. (8) Parents, pastors and teachers have done 
little to promote the use of books of general literature 
owing (a) to the fear that they might convey erroneous or 
impure ideas, a fear that is to some extent in general well 
justified, but is carried to an exaggerated extreme, and 
(b) to the emphasis on the distinction between “ profane ” 
and “religious” things, both ideas being distinctly a 
product of the Roman Catholic spirit. Turning their 
backs to the “world” the converts usually turn their 
backs to many very good things, because these are not 
stamped with their own church mark. (9) The lack of 
literary style, and the generally exotic character of much 
of our Evangelical “literature,” so called, prevents its 
making a strong appeal to a national consciousness inti- 
mately connected with language and racial tradition. This 
should put on every Evangelical writer a sense of deep 
responsibility, knowing that in general only writings of 
the better type have a definite and enduring influence on 
a nation’s soul. 

This available literature, more than any other feature 





LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 217 


of Evangelical work, produces among many a feeling of 
resentment as being that of a foreign agency propagating 
an exotic religion. Let us make a brief survey of the 
literature actually available. 

(a) Books.—These are secured from the general supply 
of literature in the Portuguese language, from Evangelical 
agencies, whether missionary or church organizations, and 
by private enterprise. 

A bibliography of books of general literature has been 
prepared, and much material has been collected, including 
translations of Smiles, Dickens, Defoe, Lew Wallace, 
scott, Milton, and original productions of the choicest 
Portuguese and Brazilian writers. But, when a list of 
books is prepared to be recommended for Sunday-school 
libraries or for colleges, and for general reading, the fact 
develops that most of these writers lack a keen sense of 
ethical purity, others are steeped in Romish ideas, still 
others have a pagan attitude, which is offensive to our 
Christian spirit. In every such list there are not a few 
books objectionable from a strict ethical or religious point 
of view. 

Books produced by Evangelical writers may be classed 
in three groups: (1) Those produced by foreign mis- 
sionaries. Some of the pioneers were alive to the great 
opportunity to create an Evangelical literature in Portu- 
guese, and made special preparation for this work. A 
number of the best books we have are the result of their 
labors. These men were well read in classical Portuguese 
literature, as may be seen in the books they left, which are 
kept with care in some libraries today. Unfortunately, 
there is not to be found so thorough a linguistic prepara- 
tion with the large majority of the missionary force today. 
So, our literature from this source is generally exotic; 
the books are used because people need them, not because 
they love to read them. Under this group we might in- 
clude some translations made by native writers under the 
direction of missionaries, as Wharey’s Church History, 
D’Aubigné’s Reformation, and Nostes com Romanistas. 
The Roman Catholic Church has produced a bibliography 
of 5,000 titles, and has a similar “ index ” of cinema films. 

(2) Those produced by Christian organizations, usually 


218 LITERATURE 


responding to some organic or denominational need, and 
more {frequently to controversial stimuli. An examination 
of literature produced in the last twenty years shows that 
the building up of ecclesiastical organizations has been 
the main purpose of publications from this source. 

(3) Those produced by nationals. In recent years some 
authors have been developed by the national churches, a 
few with remarkable literary preparation and, belonging to 
literary circles, who have published books usually at finan- 
cial loss. Some controversialists, having special facilities 
for advertising their books and meeting a peculiar taste in 
our people for an ardent presentation of religious tenets, 
have-even been succéssful financially. 

(b) Pamphlets —The use of pamphlets, leaflets, (avul- 
sos, folhas, soltas) is not what it should be, though it is 
now, voluminous. A branch of the “ Liga Um por Dia,” 
of Peru, in connection with the Young People’s societies, 
is being organized to push this work and to circulate this 
kind of literature. Selections of Scripture passages, and 
leaflets with religious anecdotes; from various sources 
in the United States and England. have been widely 
circulated, This is a type of literature well adapted to 
our conditions and should be produced in larger measure 
and widely circulated. 

(ec) Periodicals—Most of our periodicals are organs 
for the propaganda of some institution, and represent the 
interests of some organization, which regards them as in- 
dispensable in developing denominational interests. Every 
loyal: member of such.an organization is expected to take 
his representative paper. None are free from bias, not- 
withstanding the fact that a few, like the ‘“‘ Evangelista,” 
do not publish anything but Evangelical messages, refus- 
ing to publish any news. So the way is open to any big 
enterprise that desires to produce a high class family 
periodical free from sectarian bias. ‘This can be effect- 
ively produced only by an undenominational or cooper- 
ative enterprise. 

Most of the periodicals overlap, habe EB V4 in ‘ye same 
denomination ; some are competitive; and the problem of 
coordinating their papers is being studied by many 
churches... The best type of a coordinated system of 


LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 219 


periodicals is the one adopted by the Young Men’s Chris- 
tian Association—each local Association has its own bul- 
letin, but all support loyally the magazine published by the 
National Board. 

We have in our files forty periodicals, excluding school 
lesson papers published in Portuguese, in Brazil, and there 
are still more which have not found the way to our files. 

Recently the Methodist Press has begun the publication 
of a monthly magazine for children. There is a crying 
need for two new magazines: (1) one family paper, of 
the ordinary religious type, free from denominational en- 
tanglements and not representing the interests of an or- 
ganization; (2) a magazine of general information and 
literature, representing the highest Christian ideas of life, 
but not from the purely spiritual point of view. 

Revista de Cultura Religiosa-: Special notice should be 
given to this quarterly—one of the ripe fruits of the new 
spirit of cooperation, which produced a really creditable 
magazine as a result of combined elements belonging to 
the Independent Presbyterian, Presbyterian and Meth- 
odist denominations. To this magazine the Committee on 
Cooperation has given its full endorsement. 


2. The Missionary Agencies, Denominational or Union, 
Actually Producing and Distributing Literature. 

The foremost missionary agencies working now in the 
production and circulation of religious books are: 

(a) The Baptist Publishing House-——On January 10, 
1901, the “ Jornal Baptista’? appeared, but it was only on 
May 15, 1905, that a printing press was set up in a rented 
house by the Reverend A. B. Deter. A Board was formed 
to direct the paper and the press, and in 1907 an associ- 
ation was incorporated under the Brazilian laws to be the 
owner of the press. The Third National Convention de- 
clared the “ Jornal Baptista” to be the official denomina- 
tional paper. 

The Brazilian National Convention has consolidated the 
three Boards of Sunday-school work, Young People’s So- 
cieties and Publication in one; all these interests are now 
unified in the Publishing House under the direction of five 
missionaries, one as general director, one as business di- 


220 LITERATURE 


rector, one as editor of books, one as editor of periodicals 
and one as director of Sunday- -school and Young People’s 
Union work. There are also five native workers and five 
more native and foreign missionaries not belonging to the 
staff, who are occupied in the preparation of manuscripts 
and translations. 
_ This publishing house prints Sunday-school lessons and 
helps, hymn books, religious books, periodicals, pamphlets, 
leaflets for the denomination, and some school books. 

(b) Imprensa Methodista-—The Methodist Publishing 
house was begun at Sao Paulo in the year 1893. The 
funds for the. enterprise were secured by issuing shares 
which were taken by members and friends of the Church 
in Brazil. ‘The house was moved to Rio in the year 1896; 
then to Juiz de Fora in 1913. The Board of Missions sup- 
plied the funds for the new building and equipment now 
at Sao Paulo, which began operating in the year 1920. 
The old plant in Juiz de Fora was sold at that time. 

The Methodist Publishing House has in Brazil a posi- 
tion similar, in its strategic importance, to that of the Nsle 
Press in Egypt; and its opportunity for service is im- 
measurable. An agreement was made between the Sunday 
School Union and the Methodist Press to produce litera- 
ture for Sunday-schools, the Sunday School Union fur- 
nishing the manuscript with the help of the Brazilian 
Committee on Cooperation, and the Methodist Press 
taking the responsibility of printing and circulating the 
lessons and helps for teachers. Three sets of primary, 
intermediate and adult lessons, a book for teachers, “ O 
livro do Professor,’ and a series of normal books, of 
which four have been printed, are being produced. 

During 1924 the production has so increased as to make 
an average of four books each month, not only religious 
books, but general literature and school books. Six differ- 
ent religious papers and magazines are printed by the 
Methodist Press, including two undenominational ones 
and others for several denominations. ‘The total number 
of periodicals published amounts to about 370,000 copies 
a year. 

The commentary on Luke, (Ryle), a bulky volume, uni- 
form with the commentary on Mark, already published by 


LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 221 


the American Tract Society, forms a good beginning of 
the Commentary on the New Testament. 

A missionary is the book editor and a layman mission- 
ary is the director of the Press. A woman missionary is 
the editor of an undenominational children’s magazine. 
Recently the book-store, “ Livraria Liberdade,’ was 
opened in Rio under the auspices of the Press. 

The nucleus of this great work was the denominational 
weekly, the “ Expositor Christao,’ which was begun by 
Rev. J. J. Ransom in the year 1883 under the name “ O 
Methodista Catholico”; the present name was adopted 
about the year 1887. The Rev. J. L. Kennedy adds the 
following information: “ Mr. Ransom, before beginning 
the ‘ Methodista Catholico, was publishing two Sunday- 
school papers, viz., “A Escola Domincal’ and ‘A Nossa 
Gente Pequena.” He had published several religious 
tracts, as well as a ‘Compendio de Theologia, by Biney, 
a work of 200 pages, also the ‘ Compendio Methodista,’ of 
112 pages, and a catechism of 56 pages.” 

(c) Others—(1) Rev. Alva Hardie (Presbyterian 
South) has at Dascalvado, $. Paulo, a small press from 
which a monthly, “ O Evangelista,’ has been issued for 
eleven years, as well as a large number of booklets. 
Lately the Publicity Department of the Brazilian Com- 
mittee on Cooperation has revised for this press several 
pamphlets on the systematic financial support of Chris- 
tian work. 

(2) The Presbyterian Church (National) has a press in 
Rio, under the Permanent Committee of the General As- 
sembly ; the Presbyterian paper, “ O Purttano,” is pub- 
lished there, and occasionally pamphlets, usually of a 
denominational character. 

(3) Mr. F. C. Glass, and lately Mr. Miners, of Maceid, 
have been systematically distributing pamphlets and leaf- 
lets by the thousands. 

(4) The Southern Presbyterians have their press in 
North Brazil, at Garanhuns, Pernambuco, and for many 
years, besides a denominational weekly, have issued 
Sunday-school Lessons, widely used. 

(5). Centro Brasileiro de Publicidade. This is the 
literature department of the Committee on Cooperation. 


222 LITERATURE 


The secretary, who at first was only working on publica- 
tions, has since been called to act as the executive secre- 
tary of the Committee on Cooperation, while still keeping 
up his special literature work. This plan of union work 
in literature is not exclusive of any other agency, nor does 
it seek to monopolize in any way either production or di- 
rection: it aims rather to help all who are willing to do 
cooperative work, to serve the various Missions and 
Churches, to study problems, to suggest lines of cooper- 
ation, to avoid overlapping and duplication of work by 
timely notice, and to promote the production of manu- 
scripts which may be helpful to the general interests of the 
Kingdom, leaving to the denominational agencies the re- 
sponsibility for providing for their special needs. 

Some of the results of this work have been: Cooper- 
ation with the Methodist Press in the production of some 
books which are being widely used among the churches; 
with the Brazil Sunday School Union and the Methodist 
Press in the production of Sunday-school Literature, 
which is used by several denominations, the secretary be- 
ing responsible for the main commentary, “O Livro do 
Professor”; supervising and editing various translations, 
among these a voluminous book for the Methodist Bible 
Schools; and preparation of leaflets which can be used by 
any printing house, on democracy, alcoholism, spiritual 
life, Bible reading, etc. The main work is, however, re- 
vising, translating, and producing Sunday-school litera- 
ture. Many helpful changes are noticeable in recent 
publications of this type. There is a growing demand for 
more and better books. 

(6) Book-stores——The Methodist Press by recom- 
mendation of the Committee on Cooperation has opened 
in Rio a general book-store, with a view to making this a 
center for the distribution of religious literature without 
discrimination in regard to other publishing houses, but 
making the main line of work that of furnishing books to 
all without using the book-store as a vehicle of denomina- 
tional propaganda. in a few years this should be the 
largest Evangelical book-store in Latin America. 

The Committee on Cooperation has been informed that 
the Northern Presbyterians will take care of a similar 


LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 223 


book-store in Bahia; we expect to stimulate the establish- 
ment of others in Rio Grande do Sul, Pernambuco, and 
Para. 

(7) The German Lutheran schools, with 20,000 pupils 
enrolled, besides the books they import from Europe, use 
books in German produced in the State of Rio Grande do 
Sul, and have several periodicals in German, 

(8) Mention should be made here of the Adventist’s 
Tract Society located at S. Bernardo, a suburb of S. 
Paulo, a very well organized, skillfully operated and man- 
aged establishment. Its sales for 1924 approximated 
$80,000 gold. But the relationships of that denomi- 
nation with the Evangelical forces in Brazil, and the 
unanimous official attitude of the national Churches 
toward the Adventists places them outside the field of our 
present survey. 

For many years the Religious Tract Society, London, 
through its book store long established in Lisbon, has been 
an important source of literature in Portuguese. Even 
now, after the establishment of the new presses in Brazil, 
many books in active use come from this agency of the 


R. T. S. in Lisbon. 


3. Outside Agencies Through Which Literature ‘is 
Handled. 


The book trade is well organized in Brazil and the gen- 
eral book-stores should be used to circulate more largely 
our literature among people who will not enter an Evan- 
gelical book-store. 

There are some booksellers who are willing to carry a 
line of “ Protestant’ books, and some of our books de- 
signed for a large circulation should even be printed and 
sold through an “editor” not connected with our E,van- 
gelical propaganda. Some of Henry Drummond’s Ad- 
dresses, printed by A. M. Pereira, in Portugal, have found 
their way to men who would not buy books from one of 
our own book-stores. 


4. The Books Which Ought to Be. Translated and Pub- 
lished in the Next Few Years. 


(a) Dsdactic books—(1) General—The fruitful dis- 


_— 


224 LITERATURE 


cussions of school teachers in the annual meeting of the 
Evangelical University Federation show that there is a 
need of some didactic books which might be very useful 
for general circulation. In the last meeting the Feder- 
ation recommended that a book on the “Art of Story 
Telling” should be prepared and published. There is a 
large field in this line of work for Christian service; but 
this calls for special technical and literary preparation. 

(2) Religious——The needs of Sunday-school work call 
loudly for books to develop the courses barely sketched by 
the text book now widely used, Oliver’s “ Preparation for 
Teaching.” ‘ 

On pedagogics we are putting out, through our Litera- 
ture Department in cooperation with others, the “ Bibli- 
otheca de Pedagogia Religiosa” with three volumes 
published and two in preparation. So the plan is under 
way for producing good popular books on Bible History 
and Geography, Manners and Customs, Old and New 
Testament Introduction, Biblical Theology, History of 
Religious Education, Comparative Religion, Christian 
Evidences, a Bible hand-book, a concordance (after Cru- 
den’s), a Bible Dictionary, and other books needed to pro- 
mote efficient teaching in our Sunday-schools. 

This line of books is the only one which sells readily in 
Brazil, either in general or in Evangelical literature. This 
is easily understood, if we take into account the utilitarian 
attitude of mind which prevails in these countries. Only 
in the case of highly recommended books should transla- 
tions be preferred to adaptation or compilation of books 
specially designed to suit our circumstances. 

(b) Theological books.—In this class we include any 
books which might be used for professional reading by 
theological students, ministers and laymen who are inter- 
ested in higher religious subjects. Most of the books used 
in the seminaries are in English, but many of our men are 
handicapped by a lack of a working knowledge of the 
English language. We should provide for general use at 
least one good book on each of the principal departments 
of Biblical and theological learning. A list of standard 
works, including a complete commentary on the Bible, 
should be carefully drawn up, and appropriations should 


LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 225 


be made to have them published at a nominal price, as only 
a small number of copies can be printed, and these would 
be sold at a loss. We recommend that the several mission 
Boards and Missions on the field take this matter up with 
our sub-committee on literature and include regular yearly 
appropriations in their budgets for literature, each Mission 
providing for the publication of some one book. 

The production of original work should be left to the 
“inspiration ”’ of the writers who are now appearing 
among the educated classes in our churches. 

(c) Cultural books—Under this title we include books 
which would provide inspirational reading for the pur- 
pose of creating ideals and higher standards of life. We 
should supplement the meagre supply of cultural reading 
we find in the general book-stores, with distinctly Chris- 
tian books of the highest type, even though it is difficult 
to print books of this class. The two former groups, 
above mentioned, are connected with organic needs of the 
churches and are greatly needed. Cultural books have 
more or less to be forced upon the readers. 

(d) Literature about the Bible—We need, above all, 
books on the Bible to make the Bible interesting and loved 
by our Portuguese-speaking people. 

(e) General literature —General literature specially de- 
signed to provide good reading for young people consti- 
tutes an important need. Here there is a place for one or 
two good magazines, one for young people, and another 
for the family. For the production of this kind of litera- 
ture we need specially prepared native writers of high 
literary qualifications. There are now some writers of 
this kind who should be put to work. One report says, 
“We really need three magazines, one for boys, one for 
girls, one for little children. This is the dream of my 
TE ea 


5. The Kinds of Literature Most Needed. 

What class or classes of literature in Portuguese seem 
most needed? 

First of all, good magazines for young people and the 
family ; not “ religious ” in the strict meaning of this word 
in Brazil, but thoroughly Christian. 


226 LITERATURE 


We need also a large supply of leaflets and pamphlets 
for wide circulation—carefully produced, neatly printed, 
touching the great social, religious and moral problems of 
the country, including the application of the principles of 
democracy, the labor question, hygiene, alcoholism, the 
spiritual life, etc. We should make this one of the chief 
lines of work—to flood the country with this rather inex- 
pensive means of propaganda. 

The spreading of 100,000 copies of a readable transla- 
tion of “The Knight and the Nurse,” by the Young 
Women’s Christian Association, has produced wonderful 
results; we are beginning to gather the fruit of a few 
pamphlets sent to every minister in the native churches, 
dealing with some of our problems. 


6. The Use of Literature in Mtsstonary Work. 


The pamphlet and the leaflet are inexpensive, con- 
venient for large distribution, well adapted to persons 
who are not trained readers. No propaganda in business 
or politics or religion can effectively be carried on without 
leaflets and pamphlets. 

Then come the church papers and magazines; and last 
of all the books. These should be inexpensive, and those 
which we wish to place widely in the hands of the people 
ought to be so financed as to put them in the market at 
moderate prices. 


7. The Development of Union Literature Centers. 


A literature center is in actual operation as a depart- 
ment of the Brazilian Committee on Cooperation. It must 
be developed. A fully equipped publishing house can be 
supported if properly financed and commanding reliable 
technical help. The Evangelical publishing houses are 
working now at their full capacity and must be greatly 
developed to cope with the opportunities. 

The centers for the publication of books are Sao Paulo 
(the book-city of Brazil) and Rio de Janeiro, where the 
great center of distribution of literature should be lo- 


cated. The regions of North, South and West Brazil , . 


should have small book-stores and small printing presses — 
for local papers and needs. 


LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 227 


Subsidies are needed for the production of “ religious ” 
or theological books. If the publishing houses take up 
some stock-book, such as a dictionary, a popular cyclo- 
pedia, a magazine of wide circulation, school books, job 
work, these will support the publishing house. But if 
religious books, not being in great demand, are to be sold 
at regular prices, they will be out of reach of the masses. 
Then the management of the publishing houses should see 
that the business interests of the trade should not encroach 
upon the real objective of their work—the production of 
Christian literature, first and last. 

Several leading publishing firms in Rio and S. Paulo 
do not own printing presses, so any mission publishing 
house might do business without owning presses. But to 
command prompt production of books and_ periodical 
literature, it would be necessary not to depend upon con- 
tract work. 

The services rendered by a cooperative literature plant 
may be increased and extended: (1) By capturing the 
confidence of ministers of every denomination, avoiding 
carefully all doctrinal entanglements in producing and cir- 
culating purely Evangelical literature, without denomina- 
tional bias; (2) By supplementing the work done by de- 
nominational agencies, and taking up the general work 
which is “no man’s business,” because it is not vitally 
connected with ecclesiastical organization; and (3) By 
assuming the responsibility of new work which no agency 
is equipped to produce alone; as, for example, a complete 
commentary on the Bible, a Bible dictionary, a concord- 
ance, magazines, etc. 


8. The Distribution of Literature. 

(a) The use of colporteurs—The Evangelical forces 
have not yet a well organized colportage work, though the 
Adventists have a well organized service which should be 
copied by the Evangelical missions. The work carried on 
thirty years ago was dropped by the missions on the field 
and only recently the publishing houses have begun to 
train and employ colporteurs. The Bible Societies have a 
good organization for this work, but only for the distri- 
bution of the Scriptures. 





228 LITERATURE 


(b) Methods used in circulating—Small book-stores 
which should carry stationery, school books, etc., ought to 
be established wherever possible. These would be local 
agencies of the publishing houses, not only to sell their 
product but to get contracts for them. Any book pub- 
lished can thus be easily scattered all over the country and 
placed everywhere before the public. 

To reach people who will not patronize Evangelical 
book-stores, the general book-stores should be supplied 
with our books. This is very important; we shall not 
have public recognition until our books are considered a 
part of the general literature of Brazil. This will be 
secured by their presentation to the customers with other 
books of this class. 

The Church societies and small congregations every- 
where should be centers of distribution. Colporteurs 
should fiscalize their stock and accounts and take orders, 
bring in new books, Bible cards, etc. 

The employment of business-like, efficient, trained 
colporteurs, attractive men of good physique and broad- 
minded enough not to become agents of their denomi- 
nations, not likely to be meddlesome or to entangle them- 
selves with local affairs is necessary. ‘They should be 
first of all Christian business men. 


9. General Publications. 


A magazine for Brazil and Portugal and the Colonies 
is needed, for a constituency of about 60,000,000 people, 
with a large percentage of illiteracy. Cuts from La Nueva 
Democracia might be used. 


10. National Evangelical Persodicals. 


The general improvement in the methods of pro- 
ducing a better literature is being reflected in the church 
papers. 

There is a large opportunity to help the church papers 
in the form of a syndicate press-service. In a small scale 
this has been done with good results by our “ Centro 
Brasileiro de Publicidade.” 

The union of denominational periodicals must be left to 
the several organizations. ‘There is a discussion among 


LITERATURE IN PORTUGUESE 229 


Presbyterians about uniting the “ Revista de Muissdes 
Nactonaes”’ and the “ Puritano.” 

The policy of the Baptists is to publish their “ Jornal 
Baptista”? and to publish locally papers which serve the 
largest of their fields and their congregations. 

Some agreement should be feasible among the cooper- 
ative bodies to have each publish its own paper for the 
upbuilding of its denominational organization, to educate 
its people according to their tenets, to discipline family 
life and to train them for their work and for propaganda 
of their respective causes and finances; and yet to patron- 
ize one big paper for general propaganda of the gospel. 
Other magazines already referred to—for young people 
and for the family, and the “ Revista de Cultura Re- 
ligsosa,’ are also useful. If a denominational publish- 
ing house should undertake the publication of the paper 
for propaganda of the gospel or any of the magazines for 
young people and family, the denominational interests and 
stamp should be omitted. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 
J. PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT, 


Rev. Joun Rrtcutit, Lima, Peru (S. A. E. U.). 


Latin Americans love literature. ‘The classic influence of 
Rome is in their blood. Form means very much to them and 
must always be carefully considered in the preparation of 
literature which will circulate. There is needed a literature 
for character building, especially the Latin American Chris- 
tians need a wider range of Christian literature which will 
help them to face the modern world. Such literature must 
largely be produced by Latin Americans themselves. Pro- 
cesses for the development and distribution of such literature 
have been organized, so that it is possible to say that a true 
literature can be produced, if the man and the money can 
be found. 

The particular theme of the Report is preparation and cir- 
culation of literature for South America. It is a curious 
fact that the books which circulate best in South America, 
today, are not novels, but are books on social, economic, or 
political themes. Some say that character building books 
are not to be had. ‘That statement would not quite be true 
today. A Spanish press in Barcelona is sending out some 
excellent books at the present time. The chief problem is 
their general circulation. Of course, however, many more 
such books are needed. Some should be written for the man 
on the street. Theosophists, Christian Scientists, and Spirit- 
ualists use such literature to their great advantage, and so 
should we. 

The mails can, as a rule, be freely used for the circulation 
of books. Having gained such a circulation, any good book 
will pay for itself. It is a question whether a man can afford 
to own a press. The overhead of such an enterprise is con- 
tinuous and large. A union press rests on a business basis. 
Moreover, the question must be carefully considered whether 
there is any great advantage in owning the means of 
production. 

There should surely be a mission book store in every capital 
city. The Committee on Cooperation has proved that the 
only book stores that pay are those whose managers have 


230 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 231 


had business experience. There is no real way of knowing 
good books which will be popular. Such a judgment is based 
on experience and a sound judgment based on the continuous 
study of catalogs, bibliographies, etc. 

Books of many sorts are needed today. Those who have 
books in mind which ought to be translated should correspond 
with Dr. Juan Orts Gonzales, in New York. In Peru, we 
lack books for theological seminary use. Several courses of 
study have been published in “El Heraldo,” of Peru, but 
many have to be given without texts which the students can 
use. Some of the books which once were issued by the 
American Tract Society ought to be reprinted. There are 
available a few books relating to Catholicism, but there are 
none which explain Protestantism in the same direct and 
simple way. Our Sunday-school literature is so poor or else 
so expensive that what we do have sells very slowly. A 
union book store, well stocked with good books, would need 
to go one step further. It should prepare a descriptive cata- 
logue which could be put in the hands of every Christian 
worker. Then it would sell plenty of books. In my experi- 
ence, union book stores need not be subsidized when properly 
managed. The Inca Book Store, at Lima, began with a 
capital of twenty-five pounds, and today it sells from twelve 
to fifteen thousand items annually. 

Literature is of great value in evangelism. “ El Heraldo” 
has converted individuals and groups. Evangelical forces 
should use the press far more than they do, for it goes for- 
ward and reaches every class. Small Sunday-school papers 
are also of much value. In Peru, we publish a monthly 
review called ‘“ Light and Truth,” sixteen pages with three 
hundred and fifty paid subscriptions. This paper gives some 
news, but gives much room to the discussion of Christian 
truths. It is read widely in many communities. 

Christian literature is thus a necessity. Of course, each 
church will publish a certain amount of denominational 
literature. There should be a much greater use of general 
literature also. Many make the mistake of issuing books too 
cheaply. ‘This is not only business suicide, but a psycho- 
logical error. If a book is worth having, it is a far better 
policy to sell it for what it is worth. It will then be valued; 
and if properly handled, can be sold. The American Tract 
Society's system of giving large discounts does not really 
help its business. The fundamental difficulty is that foreign- 
made tracts create little response in the Latin mind. Home- 
made ones, even though inferior, are far more useful. 


232 LITERATURE 


It is important to consider the titles. A book entitled 
“Genesis” only might sell very poorly; but if it was labeled 
“How the World Was Made,” it would sell well. One 
method of gaining subscriptions which we have tried in Peru 
has been to fix a reasonable subscription price, and then, a 
few months later, to offer some slight reward to those who 
paid up within a certain date. But the broad fundamental 
principle in disposing of good literature is first of all to have 
that which is genuinely worth having, then to set a press 
which will take care of it, and then to use the vigorous 
methods which will sell literature anywhere else in the world. 


II. LitTERATURE FOR CHILDREN. 


Miss Leila F. Epps, Sao Paulo, Brazil, (M. E. Soc. Press) 
declared that at least three magazines are needed for Latin 
America, one for boys, one for girls, and one for little chil- 
dren. Children especially need attractive and pure reading. 
They are God’s little ones, naturally pure and clean, but soiled 
by contact with the sin about them. A Chicago judge once 
said, “There are no illegitimate children, but only illegiti- 
mate parents.” “ Bem te Vi” is a little children’s magazine 
printed in Brazil. It is now two years old and goes into all 
kinds of homes. Its motto is “I see in every child the pos- 
sibility of a good man.” This magazine is doing much good 
and deserves hearty support. 


Rev. Mattathias Gomez dos Santos, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 
expressed the hearty approval of “ Bem te Vi” by his fellow 
ministers and declared that over two hundred copies went 
into his own church. It is a truly interdenominational maga- 
zine, suiting well the children up to nine or ten years of age. 
The speaker felt that there should be another for children 
from eleven to sixteen and still another for young people 
from seventeen to twenty-one. After reaching twenty-one, 
the denominational magazine, church papers, and advanced 
paper would be available. The most urgent need is that for 
literature for the ’teen age and for young people from seven- 
teen to twenty-one. He expressed the hope that the Method- 
ist Press would see its way toward developing these addi- 
tional magazines for the use of all the churches. 

Since the war, the speaker declared, there has been a lack 
of Bibles. These should be available in numbers, especially 
with the Presbyterian churches alone engaged in a campaign 
to double their membership in ten years. Even the Arch- 
bishop of Bahia has: agreed that the Bible ought to be read 
by all Christians. But there should be one type of Bible. A 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 233 


Romish priest in Brazil has written and circulated a tract 
which shows the differences between the existing versions. 
He declares that only one version should be used. ‘This is 
also good Protestant doctrine. 


Rev. Hugh Stuntz spoke of a magazine for Spanish- 
speaking children. In Brazil there are forty million inhab- 
itants, more than in all the rest of South America. The 
preparation of suitable literature for Spanish-speaking chil- 
dren is an enormous task, because the rest of South America 
is composed of a number of countries, each pursuing its own 
peculiarities and thereby limiting the scope of such literature. 

In Chile, an attempt has been made to meet this general 
need by publishing “ El Amigo de la Juventad” (The Friend 
of Youth). This paper is more or less on the order of “ The 
Youth’s Companion,” but aims to contain something for 
youths, adults, and for all interested in religion, as well as 
for children. It is far from perfect, but seems worth pub- 
lishing. It ought to have wider support in its attempt to 
meet the need for attractive and helpful reading suitable for 
the young. The only other publications like it are the 
“ Aurora,’ the “Manzanos de Oro,” and the Adventist 
“Monitor.” The greatest difficulty faced by those who are 
preparing the paper lies in getting nationals who are able 
to write suitable articles. It goes, today, to fourteen different 
South American countries. The editors are hoping to make 
it more and more acceptable to each country. 


III. Tract DistriBurion. 

Sr. Eliezer de Santos Saraiva, of Brazil, discussed tract 
distribution. They should be distributed gradually, not in 
bunches. A steady rain does more good than a cloudburst. 
A gradual, steady, systematic distribution such as one a day 
by an individual for a whole year, is better than a rapid 
campaign, Such distribution by ten thousand young people 
would dispose of more than three million, five hundred and 
sixty thousand tracts in one year. This idea has been ad- 
vanced in Peru. This kind of a campaign, especially by the 
Christian Endeavor, is a worthy object which can be taken 
up in other countries. 


IV. LgreRaATuRE For EpucATED PEOPLE. 

Rev. Othoniel Motta, of Sao Paulo (Ind. Pres.), declared 
that the subject of literature deserved a congress all by itself, 
by reason of its great importance. He emphasized the special 
need of a periodical of high character, published both in 


234 LITERATURE 


Portuguese and Spanish, which would afford an interchange 
of ideas among rising leaders and be a sort of permanent 
congress of the spirit. This periodical would, of course, be 
continental in its range. Jn addition to it, there should be, 
for the use of educated Evangelicals and educated men and 
women wherever they are, national or regional periodicals 
meeting the special needs of their areas. A church is, of 
course, like a great fish tank wherein are many sorts of fish. 
Sometimes the little ones get out through the sluice and are 
lost. We guard against that by the sort of good literature 
already mentioned, which interests the young. 


V. USE oF THE SECULAR PREss. 


Mr. W. P. Davison, Dean of the Rio Junior College of the 
South American Training System of the Young Men’s Chris- 
tian Association, discussed the greater use of the secular 
press by the Evangelical forces. He emphasized the power 
of the public press in South America. With the absence of - 
most of the monthly and weekly magazines found in many 
other countries, and with the relatively high price for books 
caused by the scarcity of local publishers and the consequent 
necessity for importing books in foreign languages, the daily 
newspaper is the one means for education and culture. It is 
a form of printed matter which reaches all classes. In 
Brazil, at least, ever since the days of the Empire, the press 
has been one of the chief means of creating public opinion, 
at least as much public opinion as can exist under present 
educational systems. 

Coupled with this importance of the newspaper is the fact 
that almost always on each newspaper staff is to be found 
much latent goodwill. Many friends who are both willing 
and eager to cooperate in many helpful efforts, much unused 
idealism which can be utilized by the Evangelical cause goes 
to waste at the headquarters of every great newspaper. 

Some of our leaders have already noted this, but they 
usually employ the press merely in order to publish brief 
announcements of services or special occasions. ‘The Brazil 
Committee on Cooperation, under Dr. Braga’s leadership, 
has gone farther in this direction than any other agency in 
Brazil, frequently publishing articles of suitable length in 
the press of Rio de Janeiro and other cities. But to this 
limited aspect of one use of the newspaper, Braneaical 
leaders for the most part seem needy. 

In the city of Rio, most of the papers are open to receive 
announcements. One in particular, “O Jornal,” the news- 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 235 


paper of largest circulation, has continuously maintained 
columns which are open to the different faiths. They have 
even entitled our section with its right name “ Evangelismo,” 
instead of “ Protestantismo,” and they always publish in 
these columns the material which our churches send them. 
Yet while Catholicism, Spiritualism and Theosophy are in- 
variably represented every day by articles, not merely an- 
nouncements, articles well written and calculated to attract 
interest and win converts, our Evangelical column remains, 
as a rule, conspicuously absent except for announcements on 
Sunday of services and subjects in a few churches, and now 
and then an article contributed by the office of the Committee 
on Cooperation. Thus one of the finest opportunities for 
reaching hundreds of thousands of people in the capital city 
of Brazil goes unutilized, and in all probability there are 
similar opportunities in other South American cities which 
are likewise being neglected. 

However, the publication of articles is only the beginning 
of the matter. In nearly every newspaper are to be found 
friends of each cause, true idealists, men of prestige seri- 
ously interested in the welfare of their city and country. If 
our leaders would but get acquainted with some of these 
men, even one, establishing social contacts, enabling them to 
see the outreach of our work and its implications, we should 
soon have the means of conveying the Christian message in 
many forms to a larger group than we have ever hoped for. 
All these potential friends of ours require is through personal 
friendship to be enabled to see the gospel in all its phases and 
to receive through us the facts and ideas for them to pro- 
duce friendly articles of the highest grade. Very often these 
newspaper men would give the highest grade of publicity to 
the solutions of moral and social problems, to definite efforts 
in abetting such evils as alcoholism, pomographic literature, 
and gambling, and to the presentation of Christian ideals, if 
they only had the facts to use and the constant stimulus of 
some friend who made it a part of his business to be friendly. 
Thus the teachings of Jesus in their practical aspects would 
be brought before Latin America through one of the greatest 
of all mediums, the public press. 


VI. DENOMINATIONAL LITERATURE. 


Rev. Ralph White, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, (Luth.) 
agreed with Rev. Mattathias that at a certain age there comes 
a need for denominational literature. The five-year-old mis- 
sion of the Lutherans in Argentina has found that need to 


236 LITERATURE 


be quite real. The Lutheran Church is liturgical. At present 
the liturgy used in the Lutheran churches of Buenos Aires 
is Spanish in origin. It is based on the Roman mass with 
the elimination of whatever is not to be found in the Bible. 
This liturgy may be helpful to other churches which make 
some. use of the material which has grown out of early 
church history. 

The Lutherans in Argentina also publish a small Sunday- 
school weekly paper, facilitating the work of the Sunday- 
school, especially in regard to the lessons. ‘They likewise 
publish a monthly review called “Light and Truth,” a 
sixteen-page magazine with three hundred and fifty paid 
subscriptions. ‘This review not only contains news, but ar- 
ticles on doctrine. It is carefully read and seems to afford 
great help in community church developments. In the ex- 
perience of these churches, such publications are very neces- 
sary. ‘They desire to use much general literature also, and 
will gladiy cooperate in its production and distribution, but 
feel that denominational literature is also essential. 


VII. ProspiueMs oF PUBLICATION. 


Rev. J. W. Clay, of Sao’ Paulo, Brazil, (Mgr. of M. E. 
So. Press) spoke of having considerable success in printing 
books in colors, showing butterflies, flowers and so on in their 
natural colors. Well bound, beautiful books appeal to South 
Americans who will pay for them. ‘They seem to dislike 
paper bound books. 

The problems of distribution are usually given more 
thought than the problems of publication. Our mission pub- 
lishing houses are miserable affairs. The press house of 
one of the greatest churches on earth is nothing but a: hole. 
Boards ought to be willing to spend more on these plants. 
Publishing houses ought to be attractive in appearance quite 
as much so as great school and college plants. Printers must 
have adequate equipment. 

Publishing houses are often asked to print a book for 
which there is little or no demand. It is necessary that they 
shall be run on a strictly business basis, therefore, or that 
they shall be subsidized. In the long run, it would seem that 
a business policy is the best policy. 


IX. THe WritTInc oF Books. 
Rev. Alvaro Reis, of Rio de Janeiro, (Pres.) declared that 
there should be one more Beatitude,—blessed is the man who 
makes books. During his busy life he had written more than 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 237 


twenty. The need is great for trained writers who will pre- 
pare books for the use of leaders. He emphasized his own 
success in the use of daily papers, publishing in the Journal 
of Commerce of Rio over twenty articles in reply to Padre 
Julio Maria. He denied posing as an author, seeking only to 
express the truth in the language of the people. He had 
found that through the press he reached the cultured people. 
For twenty-three years he had been publishing the ‘“ Puri- 
tan,” developing it with strictly Brazilian money. 


X. Work oF THE Lonpon RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 


Rev. Carlos Araujo, of Madrid, Spain, spoke of the work 
of the Religious Tract Society of London, saying that it had 
had an office in Madrid for fifty years, ever since full re- 
ligious freedom was granted in Spain. Its literature circu- 
lates widely in Latin America. It publishes (1) tracts serv- 
ing admirably for opening the way in preaching and pastoral 
service; (2) suitable literature for youth, some consisting of 
stories. “ Pepa y la Virgen,” by Martinez, and “ Julian y la 
Biblia’ have had a larger circulation in Latin America than 
any Spanish novel or any book published in Spain; (3) biog- 
raphies of great men such as Luther, Raimund, Lull, Chal- 
mer, Livingstone, Mary Slessor and others; (4) some more 
serious publication such as a Greek-Spanish concordance. 
The greatest care is taken to print this literature attractively. 

Cooperation is essential to the largest success of this work. 
The Religious Tract Society is quite willing to do its part. 
It has been found that material published in Spain finds a 
ready acceptance in any country in Latin America, raising 
none of the questions which grow out of national differences. 


XI. Tur Crostne Discussion. 
Dr. JUAN OrtTs GONZALES. 


Dr. Gonzales had planned to summarize the discussion, but 
stated that he preferred to use his time in speaking of the 
literary work of the Committee on Cooperation in Latin 
America, The Committee aims to serve Latin America in all 
matters pertaining to literature. It has organized union 
book stores and gathered up useful bibliographies and estab- 
lished a center for the interchange of all kinds of books. 
Data are being collected for another bibliography on avail- 
able Evangelical literature. Data are also being collected 
with reference to books and pamphlets that should be pre- 
pared or translated. The Committee needs the cooperation 


238 LITERATURE 


of every missionary in these tasks and welcomes their 
suggestions. 

La Nueva Democracia is a publication which the Com- 
mittee issues on behalf of all Latin America. The enter- 
prise was begun with great reluctance, but more and more it 
has justified itself. Intended to reach the intellectual class, 
it is read by judges, lawyers, teachers, ministers, and public 
men. ‘These contacts are arousing an interest in the Bible 
as well as in the aims of the Evangelical forces. La Nueva 
Democracia does not wish to compete with denominational 
magazines nor with strictly regional literature, nor with 
strictly religious papers. It is in full sympathy with these 
aims, but seeks a constituency somewhat beyond that of these 
papers. Just as Jesus conversed with Nicodemus as with a 
scholar, and just as Paul adapted his ministry to those with 
whom he spoke, so this journal aims to talk in the language 
of the educated and to bring them under the influence of 
Evangelical ideas. 

The committee in charge needs much more cooperation. 
Missionaries and nationals who have become acquainted with 
the editorial program invariably approve it and are helping 
by articles and subscriptions to make it go. La Nueva Demo- 
cracia exists to serve the Evangelical cause. It is an ally to 
every minister. It aims at a contact with the cultured class. 
It appeals for any and every sort of assistance which will 
enable it to help them to become sincere and loyal supporters 
of the gospel. 


THE FINDINGS 


I. This Congress invites the attention of the mission 
Boards and Christian churches to the unique opportunity and 
immense value of the printing press as an instrument of 
evangelism, through which our message may be carried to 
every part of the continent and adapted to each class of 
society, excepting only the wholly illiterate. 

2. The Congress recommends that each Mission body 
appropriate annually for the production and circulation of 
Evangelical and evangelistic literature, a fixed sum, aiming 
to reach one-tenth of its annual budget. 

3. It suggests that the original literature required ought to 
be prepared largely, if not exclusively, by nationals. 

4. It likewise suggests that translation into Spanish and 
Portuguese ought to be characterized by adaptation to the 
circumstances and mental states of the Latin American 
peoples. 

5. It believes that in the matter of translation the work 
can be best done by means of collaboration between two per- 
sons, one of whom possesses the original language and the 
other the one into which the book is being translated. 

6. It suggests the desirableness of promoting literary prize 
contests to stimulate authorship and create a native literature 
_ presented preferably in story form, on such themes as: the 
social value of the Life of Christ; the principles of Christian 
truth; the fruits of toleration; liberty; Christian citizen- 
ship, etc. 

7. It invites the attention of those who are producing 
Evangelical literature to the desirability of avoiding in book 
titles, wherever appropriate, and in publishing house names, 
terms which suggest an ecclesiastical or even a religious bias. 

8. It recommends to the Committee on Cooperation the 
production of a descriptive catalogue of all available Evan- 
gelical literature, to facilitate the selection of suitable books 
by those who reside where there is no Evangelical bookstore. 

9g. It recommends to the Committee on Cooperation the 
appointment of a Publication secretary who has had experi- 
ence in this department of work on the field, to act as a liason 
officer between the book centers and publishers, to promote 
the production and circulation of Christian literature in all 


fs, 


240 LITERATURE 


its forms, and to advise on the details of economical publica- 
tion, suitable presentation and place of production. 

10. It recommends to the Committee on Cooperation to in- 
vestigate the possibility of gathering a conference of Evan- 
gelical editors and book store managers of both cooperating 
and non-cooperating bodies, to confer on the practical prob- 
lems of securing a wide circulation for our literature, and if 
it be possible, to arrange for the calling of such a conference. 

11. It expresses the hope that on the occasion of any 
future Congress similar to this now in session, every effort 
should be made to obtain the presence of the editors and book 
store managers dealing with Evangelical literature, so that 
these may confer together on their special problems. 

12. It recommends that measures be taken through the 
Committee on Cooperation to obtain precise data concerning 
the annual turnover of Evangelical literature in each center, 
of the capital invested, and all such statistics pertinent to the 
financial aspect of this department, and place this information 
at the disposal of the Mission Boards, book store managers 
and book publishers to whom it is of interest. 

13. It favors a reply to the cablegrams received from the 
British and Foreign Bible Society and from Mr. Stephen J. 
Menzies, thanking them for their generous offers of special 
editions of the Scriptures, and suggests that the 50,000 copies 
of Gospels provided by Mr. Menzies be distributed by the 
Regional Committees. 

14. This Congress agrees that the results of long experi- 
ence prove conclusively that the Bible has an important 
function as an evangelizing agency in areas untouched by 
organized Christian communities. 

15. This Congress represents to the Bible Societies that 
under the changing conditions in South America, it is desir- 
able that the selling prices of the Holy Scriptures be read- 
justed as occasion offers, so as to recover, as far as possible, 
the cost of production and distribution. 

16. In view of the confusion arising from the circulation 
of different versions of the Bible in both Spanish and Portu- 
guese, this Congress would recommend to the Bible Societies 
the desirability of the circulation, in each of these language 
areas, of a single version. We recommend also to the Socie- 
ties that they confer with national leaders in Latin America 
with regard to the wisdom of such a revision and adjustment 
of present translations as will secure this result. 


THE REPORT OF COMMISSION TEN 
ON 


RELATIONS BETWEEN FOREIGN AND 
NATIONAL WORKERS 


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Contents 
INTRODUCTORY Yio. aeeieka dia. wink oles 


I. THe Growinc NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS. IN 
OU BELT AML ER LCA yee ae diet ries eiadai's tte okeveiaeeteney Obie Yes 


II. RELATIONS BETWEEN MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL 


ASBOUPS SMD oat leeu ane cou eisteiennrs: 9 
I. Indications of a Desire Among National Lead- 
ers aor a Chance’ otahelationsuipnus vmiauiiy os 

2. Principles Underlying Questions of Relation- 
SEN DE shee a's LA PED Rs AISWIS Ss NSA Pikes oA RTS! a 

3. The Application of These Principles......... 
(a) The National Church Organically a Part 
of the Parent’ GChurchiis oi wee aencge 

(b) The National Church Independent....... 
(c) Missionaries at First Full Members...... 
(d) Every Indigenous Church Entirely Self- 
GPOVOTINN Or, cele Liss.. aaa! ene tut ate eS 

4, Various Active Plans of Cooperation’. #4... 
Pam Lne srazil) Plane ves. co's hemes ie ee 
Ob UL be lan iii aparien ry ci. fs ch mews hye 
(c) The Plan of the American Board in India. 

5. Existing Relationships in Financial Matters... 
(a) The System Used in Determining the Ex- 
penditure of Funds Sent Out by Mission- 

ary Societies and of Those Raised on the 

1H 1 Fe OO fg Meee Om at 19 aR 

(b) The Influence of Nationals in Making 
PE ILISEINCTIGSY Teed y bis ce oe Re terete oy 

(c) The Use of Missionary Money for Local 
on. National“ Expenditures ew). cbs Pees 

(d) Relation of Salaries of Nationals and 
Missionaries vii 4 iy.0 vies tice amenity ata’, |S 

III. SELF-SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR RE- 
LATIONS TO MISSIONARY SOCIETIES..........000- 


243 


244 CONTENTS 

TV. SBLESPROPAGATION Wat Cwuhigane te Pe te oe ee 271 

1. The Extent to Which the National Churches 
Are Prepared to Reach Their Nations........ 271 
Ca) TGS ervt ina: | ujate als stone leita cae oe 271 
Cb) (Dn (Brazel nit sch ateyk ake chalets inet aie teem 272 
CC) LGR TOT Ge. e auc Velehetei edt ete teeta pte 272 

2. The Place of the Missionary in a Self-sustain- 
ing, Self-directing, Evangelizing Church..... 273 
V. THE ATTAINMENT OF SELF-SUPPORT............. 273 
1. Progress Made Since 1916 by Churches...... 273 
(a) Seligsapport in “Brazil aes. \.eote cee 274 
(b)\Selfi-support)in hile; iu. ih ope aaleeles 276 

2. Methods by Which Self-support May Be 
Gaineds U4 aaesiin/s. aviary © ty dea aeorTe Aen eee 278 
VI. THe Duty or CHURCH EXTENSION..........0.. 279 
¥. Progress, Made: Since i9iGeis) 53425. Ue ee 279 
2. Methods}'of} Promotion) Gowen six.) BAAS 4: 281 
Vile in (CONCLUSION AC)... was Ae fe citi eet sale een 285 
VIIL. {DISCUSSION OHNCHE REPORT, cots: fe oab eine heal dp eee 287 
EX. SE HE ESBNDINCSHO UE es 02 e009. We ae 292 


RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FOREIGN AND 
NATIONAL WORKERS 


INTRODUCTORY 


Christianity is essentially a missionary religion. Its 
impelling and expansive power sent Paul through the 
empire of the Czsars, and his fellow apostles to the 
nations of the ancient world. This same influence has, 
during the Christian centuries, sent out a countless num- 
ber of apostles to all parts of the world seeking to 
convey the message and spirit of Jesus everywhere and 
to apply them to every conceivable form of need. A 
live Christian church reaches out to its next-door neigh- 
bor, to the people on the avenues and. in the slums of 
its own city, to those on sparsely settled frontiers and 
even across the world. It takes an interest in bringing to 
people everywhere its message as a true solution for all 
their problems. ‘ Christianity,” says Dr. Jefferson, “ is 
a world religion. It bears the burdens of. the world on 
its shoulders, the horizon of the world in its eyes. It is 
a ‘good shepherd’ religion; as it goes on its way, it 
picks up the continents, the little ones and the big ones, 
and seeks out diligently the islands of the sea. It wants 
to whisper something to them. It wants to tell them 
‘God is love.’ ” 

Thus the churches of Christ have sent their messengers 
to South America as to all other parts of the world. 
Those from the Evangelical churches have been in South 
America for less than a century, but their interpretation 
of the Christian message as a solution of individual social 
and national problems has so commended itself to the 
people of South America that groups in each republic have 
rapidly developed which are constantly more ready to 
assume full responsibility for the vigorous life of the 
churches to which they give allegiance. Those groups are 


245 


246 RELATIONSHIPS 


no longer sporadic and unorganized. They constitute a 
section of South American life which deserves recognition. 

The problem of this Commission is to consider how 
the responsibility for the natural expansion of FE,van- 
gelical Christianity in South America may be ultimately 
placed completely on the shoulders of the national 
churches, and how until this time shall have arrived, the 
foreign and national workers can best labor together for 
the extension of the Kingdom of God. 


I. Tur Growine NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN 
SoutH AMERICA, 


The countries of Latin America since the date of their 
emancipation, have shown a vigorous national conscious- 
ness. The constitution of the A. B. C. Conference to 
assist in rectifying the complication in Mexican affairs 
ten years ago; the prompt and, in some cases, the vigor- 
ous participation of the Latin American countries in the 
World War; their admission into the League of Nations 
and their valuable collaboration in its work are some of 
the most recent instances in which this consciousness has 
had clear, positive and valuable expression. More and 
more strongly these republics are facing their responsi- 
bilities and their privileges as members of the great 
family of nations. 

Regarding the relationship of this growing sense of 
nationalism to the influence and efficiency of the foreign 
worker, it may be said that although in the large centers 
of commercial, intellectual and social life the fact that 
the missionary is a foreigner may possibly make his task 
more difficult and his approach at times unfortunate be- 
cause “of the repelling force of foreign thought, man- 
ners and methods,” it 1s, on the other hand, the opinion 
of some that among the people of the interior, where life 
is more simple and genuine, the fact that the missionary 
is a representative of a great and friendly foreign nation 
is often a real asset. Moreover, a larger and fuller 
manifestation of national consciousness increases greatly 
the need and opportunity of presenting to the people of 
each republic the simple principles and the wholesome 
influences of a democratic Biblical Christianity. 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 247 


The large question is, therefore, what this new situ- 
ation may demand in regard to the transfer of authority 
in the various branches of Christian work. It should, 
however, be borne in mind that for some time to come, 
whenever the missionary’s alien nationality is a handicap, 
it will be offset by his importance and influence as a per- 
sonal bond of connection with the body of moral interest 
and support in another land. Granting that, when mental, 
social and spiritual gifts and equipment are equal, the 
service of the national worker will be more effective than 
that of the foreigner, it would seem clear that the pastoral 
and evangelistic activities should pass gradually and 
naturally to the national church and to the national work- 
ers; and that in the administration of the work of the 
national churches, the missionary should have a second- 
ary part. That this transfer of authority and influence 
from missionary to national becomes possible much’ 
earlier than most foreign missionaries and their support- 
ing Boards suppose is clear to any experienced observer. 

What is said above in regard to pastoral and evangel- 
istic activities of missionary and national workers may 
be said also, with slight modification, of the institutional 
developments of the work. Other things being equal, 
the national worker will be more efficient than the for- 
eigner, and therefore an important part of the task of 
the missionary should be the preparation of the na- 
tional to take his place. One of the great objectives of 
the missionary’s work is to make himself increasingly 
unnecessary. 

We should not overlook the strong objections that have 
developed in Japan and China to educational institutions 
under foreign control. Whether just or not, this consti- 
tutes a reason for the early transfer of institutions to 
national boards of trustees or managers or else for such 
action as will demonstrate that these institutions are 
whole-heartedly loyal to the natural aspirations of the 
people whom they seek to serve. 


II, RELATIONS BETWEEN MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL 
GROUPS. 


In general the formal ecclesiastical relations between 


248 RELATIONSHIPS 


the missionaries and the nationals in the several churches 
organized have followed the theory of the parent body. 
The Episcopal Mission reproduces the Episcopal Church 
with its largely autonomous Synod and Diocese, mission- 
aries and nationals holding membership in the courts on 
equal footing. The Baptists and Congregationalists with 
their individual church autonomy present, in theory, no 
difficulty on the ecclesiastical side. The Methodist Epis- 
copal churches maintain in South America the same plan 
of organization as in other mission fields. The mission- 
aries and nationals hold membership in the Conferences 
on an equal footing. ‘The tendency of Methodist churches 
toward a world-wide ecclesiastical organization and their 
interpretation of episcopal authority, with their non- 
diocesan election of bishops, lead these churches to desire 
a close relationship with the national organizations of 
other lands and to abandon such connectionalism with 
reluctance. 

The Presbyterians with their ideal of national churches, 
extend readily to the local organization the fullest auton- 
omy. In the beginning of the missionary movement in 
Brazil, the missionaries and nationals were members of 
the presbyteries on an equal footing, but these bodies 
were integrally related to the mother Churches in the 
United States. In 1888 an independent national Church 
was organized, the two elements continuing to work 
jointly as members of this body. In 1903, due to agita- 
tions born of the growing sense of independence of this 
national Church, there came a division, one branch of the 
old Church continuing its relations with the Missions and 
Boards as before, another branch organizing an entirely 
independent body, having no connection whatever with the 
parent Churches or their Missions. Again, in 1916, a 
movement began that resulted in the adoption of an 
entirely new plan of cooperation which regulates the rela- 
tions between missionaries and nationals. ‘This plan is 
discussed more fully later on in this report. 


1. Indications of a Desire Among National Leaders for 
a Change of Relationship. 
With the vigorous growth of the Evangelical churches 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 249 

in South America in recent years, the growth of an inde- 
pendent spirit among the leaders, and even in the body of. 
the membership, has gone forward more rapidly perhaps 
than has the growth of the national consciousness itself. 
Wherever and whenever the consciousness of growing 
material, intellectual and spiritual resources becomes 
strong, the desire for independence, sooner or later, ap- 
pears. The fact of the existence of a desire on the part 
of the national leaders for a change in present relations 
and of movements looking to the realization of such a 
desire is not always openly declared. An answer from 
Chile to a questionnaire on this subject gives abundant 
evidence of a desire for change in that country. The 
regional report from Argentina says, “In direct pro- 
portion to the advance of our Evangelical work in these 
South American republics there arises a desire for control 
by nationals of church and mission affairs, as was mani- 
fested in various ways in the recent Central Conference 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Panama... . The 
demand is insistent and may well become imperious, if 
the Church does not heed the requests.” “ This national 
consciousness is expressed variously in the different de- 
nominations.” ‘These manifestations of a national con- 
sciousness in these nascent and growing churches are 
desirable, commendable and promising. 

The movement for a more characteristic national ex- 
pression began in Brazil more than thirty years ago and 
rapidly gained strength, resulting in the above-mentioned 
changes and in the present understanding between the 
Presbyterian Boards and the National Presbyterian 
Church that will be discussed later. Soon thereafter, a 
similar movement began in Japan which led to radical 
changes, although the problem there still awaits a final 
solution. More recently, the desire for national autonomy 
in religious work has manifested itself in Mexico, result- 
ing in a pronounced movement in the direction of a unified 
Christianity expressing itself in an autonomous national 
church. One of the latest expressions of these desires is 
seen in the intense agitations in India and China. 

The reason for these movements is well given in the 
report from Brazil that says: 


250 RELATIONSHIPS 


“In every mission, sound conversion and true love for 
Christ is sure to produce, and has produced, movements 
tending to change this state of affairs [the primitive relations 
between missions and national workers]. No true lover of 
his people who sees them hindered in seeking the gospel by 
the fact that it is offered them by persons of foreign birth, 
manners and habits of thought ... can fail to long for a 
national church autonomous and self-contained, cooperating 
with the Missions and receiving their cooperation. The 
greatest drawback to the success of Missions at a certain 
point of their progress is the tendency on the part of faithful 
missionaries to mistake this desire [on the part of the 
natives] for petulance, and the complementary tendency on 
the part of irresponsible elements. in the church to cry out 
for an independence they are incapable of using.” 


As stated above, the fact of these agitations that mani- 
fest a desire for national expression and self-direction is 
reassuring. Movements born of these desires that are 
wholesome and wise should be welcomed by every mis- 
sionary leader and worker. The difficulty is to find satis- 
factory solutions for the problems that grow unavoidably 
out of the inexperience of the nascent churches,—solu- 
tions that will stimulate the movements for national ex- 
pression and development on the part of the indigenous 
churches and that will at the same time facilitate the 
work of the cooperating and friendly Missions, making 
easy the transfer of the fruits of the missionary’s labors 
to the national organizations. 


2. Principles Underlying Questions of Relationship. 


There are four principles of mission policy bearing on 
this situation with which all will agree: 

(a) The final and supreme object of all foreign mission 
work is the planting and perpetuation of the kingdom of 
God among all nations through the founding in every 
land of strong indigenous churches, capable of self- 
government, self-propagation and self-support. 

(b) From the day of the organization of the first con- 
gregation and the ordination of the first minister, the 
indigenous church has its being, and should be given an 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 251 


increasingly important share in its own development along 
all lines. 

(c) When an indigenous church, capable of inde- 
pendent life, has been established, the missionary phase 
of the work will have passed and foreign missionaries 
should gradually be withdrawn or assigned to specialized 
responsibilities. 

(d) The more rapidly this great objective is obtained, 
the greater will be the success of the work and the greater 
will be the credit and the honor due to the workers. 

Now while all missionary workers will accept these 
general principles, the large majority will fail more or 
less completely in making a full application of them. The 
trouble arises in living up to this missionary creed. Any 
missionary who understands his true relation to his great 
work will say of his native brother, ‘‘ He must increase, 
but I must decrease.’ He agrees that the national worker 
is the permanent factor in the problem, the missionary 
only a temporary factor. But the application of this 
theory is difficult. In the beginning the missionary is 
pastor, evangelist and administrator, all in one. All of 
the church people look to him for counsel; all the work- 
ers look to him for direction. While human nature is 
human nature, it will be difficult for the man who has 
occupied for years the place of leadership to yield it to 
another. ‘To do this the missionary worker needs a 
double portion of his Master’s spirit of humility. and 
self-effacing grace. 


3. The Application of These Principles. 


Serious difficulties grow out of the methods of proced- 
ure in the application of these general principles. One of 
the first and most important of these questions of method 
is the relation of the nascent national church to the parent 
church in the homeland. ‘To this question at least four 
distinct answers can be given. 

(a) The national church organically a part of the 
parent church—sSome will contend that there should be 
an organic union existing between a national church and 
the organization which fostered it, and that this connec- 
tion should be a perpetual one, resulting in world-ranging 


252 RELATIONSHIPS 


denominational units,—a pan-Presbyterian Church, a pan- 
Methodist Church, etc. 

(b) The national church independent.—Others — will 
urge that the ideal indigenous church should always be 
national and free, having no other international bonds 
than those of fellowship and a common faith.* 

(c) Misstonaries at first full members——A third party 
will insist that in the beginning missionaries should be- 
come members of the nascent church, that they may help 
to train those upon whom the responsibility for its welfare 
must later devolve; but that, later on, when the church 
shall have become capable of self-determination and self- 
support, these missionary helpers should withdraw from 
its membership, at least, from any kind of control. 

(d) Every indigenous church entirely self-governing. — 
A fourth school contends that with the first church and 
the first minister a new indigenous church is born; that 
there should never be any organic union with the parent 
body; that the missionaries should never become full 
members of the national organization, but that, as associ- 
ate or corresponding members, they should be its friends 
and counsellors. 

Much can be said in support of each of these theories 
of organization; and missionary leaders will differ in 
regard to them according to their ecclesiastical affiliations, 
their traditions and their conceptions of the ultimate 
objectives of mission work. ‘Those who strongly believe 
in the value of universal denominational organizations 
will defend the first of the four plans; but those who 
believe in national Churches with only the bond of fel- 
lowship uniting them into universal units will stand up 
strongly for one of the last three methods. Yet all will 
probably agree that, if from some natural and normal 
reason, the organic union with the parent Church should 
hinder the development of power and efficiency in the 
indigenous organization, these relations should cease or 
be satisfactorily modified and the Church on the mission 


1 See article on “The Ideal Church in the Mission Field,” by 
Dr. Robert E. Speer, in The Missionary Review of the World, 
March, 1924, p. 181. See also one on “The Relation of the 
Church and the Mission in China,” p. 26. 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 253 


field should become autonomous and, at its option, 
national and independent. 


4. Vartous Active Plans of Cooperation. 


Whatever the ideal scheme of relationship, there is a 
period during the planting and growth of every indi- 
genous Church, when it needs the financial aid of the 
Mission and the cooperation of the missionary. During 
that period, what should be the relation between the mis- 
sionary and his national brother and between the Mission 
and the national Church? ‘This is probably the most 
acute question which at present demands the attention of 
missionary workers and national leaders. Stated in an- 
other way, the question is this: How can the missionary 
help to develop most rapidly and efficiently the needed 
power of leadership in the indigenous Church? And how 
can the authority and influence of the missionary and of 
the Mission be transferred to the national worker and the 
national Church with fewest difficulties and with the 
greatest completeness? 

The Commission has examined the plans of cooperation 
adopted in Japan, Latin America, India, Persia and in the 
various fields of Africa by the Presbyterian bodies, the 
American and British Congregationalists, the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South, 
the Church Missionary Society, the United Free Church 
of Scotland, the Church of Scotland, the English and 
American Baptists, the Swedish Missionary Society, and 
by other societies covered in the reports to the Interna- 
tional Missionary Council at Oxford, July, 1923. It has 
examined the voluminous report* by Messrs. Speer and 
Carter of their visit to the Presbyterian Missions of India 
with its discussion of the conditions and problems there 
prevailing, as revealed at conferences with various Mis- 
sions, groups and presbyteries. It has also studied the 
plans of cooperation there suggested and those finally 
adopted by the Presbyterian Missions and the Presby- 
terian Church in India. It has had before it the pamphlet 


2 Report on India and Persia of the Deputation of the Board of 
Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., 1921-22. 


254 RELATIONSHIPS 


on “ The Relation of Church and Mission in China,” pre- 
pared by FE. C. Lobenstine for the Oxford Council, and 
has given attention to the Modus Operandi adopted by the 
Presbyterian Church of Brazil and the cooperating Pres- 
byterian Missions and Boards—a plan that has been 
giving excellent results for more than ten years. It con- 
tents itself with a word of comment here and there, leav- 
ing to the Congress the fuller discussion of these methods 
and the selection of that which may be deemed approvable. 

Analysis of these reports indicates that, apparently 
without exception, the salary and rent of missionaries is 
left in the hands of the Mission. In only a few instances 
are the matters of the location of missionaries, their 
traveling expenses, their vacations and the expenses inci- 
dent to their personal work put into the hands of joint 
committees composed of missionaries and nationals. 
Moreover, it is an almost universal practice, except among 
backward peoples, to confide the administration of funds 
contributed by the national Churches largely to those 
churches themselves or to joint committees composed of 
missionaries and nationals. ‘The newest development or 
tendency in this matter of cooperation between Missions 
and national Churches is in the direction of these “ joint 
committees’ that are charged with the greater part of 
the work and responsibility that formerly fell upon the 
Missions. 

The general policy of the Methodist Episcopal Churches 
has beén, and still is, to have each Conference composed 
of nationals and missionaries sitting as equals and, acting 
through its bishop, locate both missionaries and native 
pastors and evangelists whether these latter are supported 
by funds raised on the field or by those received from 
abroad, and to administer funds raised on the field and 
those granted by the Board for the general causes of the 
national Church through committees appointed by the 
Conference and composed of nationals and missionaries. 

Joint committees, composed of missionaries appointed 
by the Mission and of nationals appointed by their own 
representative organizations, constitute the newest and 
most popular method of relationship in use at present. 
This plan was tried out in Japan a number of years ago 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 255 


between the Church of Christ in Japan and the four 
Presbyterian Missions out of whose work it grew. ‘The 
plan took two forms—that of the “cooperating”? Mis- 
sion, which agreed with the Church of Christ in Japan 
that all evangelistic work should be handled jointly, and 
that of the “affiliated’’ Mission, which carried on their 
own evangelistic work under their own direction, but 
worked in association with the Church of Christ. Neither 
of the forms has proved entirely satisfactory to the indi- 
genous Church. At present two new plans are under 
consideration, one originating with the Japanese and es- 
tablishing a strong central commission with local com- 
mittees of limited authority; the other originating with 
the missionaries and calling for a central commission 
with limited powers and local committees with larger 
powers. ° 

The post-war social and political upheavals in India 
naturally had a powerful effect on the whole missionary 
work. The report of Messrs. Speer and Carter, referred 
to above, gives an illuminating account of the conditions 
that prevailed about 1921 in India and of the series of 
conferences held by them with groups of individuals, with 
the Missions and with the presbyteries during their visit. 
A conference had been held before their visit at Saharan- 
pur, attended by the members of the India (Presbyterian) 
Council, by some members of the three Presbyterian Mis- 
sions and, by representatives of each of the five Indian 
presbyteries. This historically important Conference 
adopted a “ Statement of Principles”? which, with very 
slight modifications, might be taken as the Magna Charta 
of all national or indigenous Churches.* It recommended 
a plan for the cooperation of the Presbyterian Missions 
and churches of India, which formed the basis for the 
later conferences held by Messrs. Speer and Carter with 
the Missions and the churches. ‘The final results of those 
conferences took shape in two plans of cooperation which 
adopt in large measure the principles and the plan of the 
Saharanpur Conference. 

8 Both of these plans, it should be stated, have, since the writing 


of the Report, been abandoned for the present. 
4 This statement is given in the Report, pp. 180 seq. 


256 RELATIONSHIPS 


These two plans provided that the evangelistic work, the 
educational work and the medical work should be placed 
under the direction and control of joint committees com- 
posed of missionaries and nationals. ‘These committees 
were to make proposals to the Missions as to location of 
missionaries, to place and remove national workers, to fix 
salaries for these workers in harmony with certain estab- 
lished rules and in accord with an Intermediary Board 
or Central Financial Commission, and to seek in every 
way to promote the interests of their respective depart- 
ments of work. The committees were to report to the 
Intermediary Board, to which also they would send esti- 
mates to be reviewed and forwarded, if approved, through 
the India Council to the Board in New York. 

These India plans with their six separate and distinct 
factors—mission, presbytery, joint committee, intermedi- 
ary board or central finance commission, Indian council 
and New York Board— seem quite complicated and ap- 
parently, of necessity, offer possibilities of misunderstand- 
ing and disagreement. The simpler plan of relationship, 
the greater the probability that it will work without fric- 
tion. Yet it is the testimony of those who take a share in 
Presbyterian missionary administration that the plans 
have worked with surprisingly little friction. 

The questions that have agitated the Christian com- 
munities in India have been stirring also the Missions and 
churches in China. The necessity of training adequately 
the leaders of the indigenous churches and the desire on 
the part of the nationals for a larger share in the plan- 
ning and administration of the work in their respective 
lands have given rise to these movements. The Interna- 
tional Missionary Council, in its meeting at Lake Mohonk, 
in October, 1921, discussed among others, the following 
topics: the status of the missionary, general missionary 
policies, the administration of funds from abroad, and 
the training of leaders. In May, 1922, the National 
Christian Conference, meeting in Shanghai, discussed 
fully these questions and others relating to the work in 
China. Rev. E. C. Lobenstine, in his pamphlet prepared 
for the Oxford Council of 1923, reported the attitude and 
the reactions of some of the missions in China to the 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 257 


discussions at Lake Mohonk and Shanghai; and explained 
the present status in Missions and churches in relation to 
the points discussed. He closed his pamphlet with the 
findings of the Shanghai Conference. The indications are 
that the solutions in China will follow the same general 
lines as those established in the plans adopted in the 
Punjab and North India. 

The practical object before Commission X in the study 
of all these plans has been the discovery of what may be 
of value in them in relation to the solution of the prob- 
lems that are developing in certain parts of South 
America. Since the social and political organization of 
Latin American peoples has made them more or less 
familiar with forms of government and with the methods 
of administration common in modern democracies, it is to 
be expected that they will with great readiness prepare 
themselves for efficient leadership; and the large number 
of able men who have appeared in the National Churches 
of Latin America show that this expectation is well 
grounded. For this reason, the Commission desires to 
call special attention to the Modus Operandi established 
in Brazil. 

(a) The Brazil plan—As stated above, when the Pres- 
byterian work was begun there, presbyteries were organ- 
ized that formed integral parts of the Presbyterian 
Churches in North America. In these organizations mis- 
sionaries and nationals sat as members on an equal foot- 
ing. In 1888, an independent national Presbyterian 
Church was organized with the full consent and approval 
of the mother Churches. Missionaries and nationals con- 
tinued to work side by side as equals in the presbyteries 
and synod and afterward in the General Assembly. Rela- 
tions continued on this footing until 1916, when the Gen- 

eral Assembly, feeling that a change was desirable, 
appointed a committee composed of nationals to meet with 
the representatives appointed by the Churches of the 
United States, forming together a Joint Commission to 
prepare a new plan of cooperation. Some months later, 
this commission met and adopted unanimously a plan of 
cooperation, which was submitted to the Assembly in 
1917, and was, with one or two slight modifications, 


258 RELATIONSHIPS 


unanimously adopted. Subsequently, this plan of co- 
operation was approved by the cooperating Boards. Not- 
withstanding the fact that it has never been put fully into 
operation, it has worked smoothly and has given excellent 
results. Its main points are as follows: 

The preamble recognizes that there exists in Brazil an 
autonomous National Presbyterian Church; that there 
still remain vast unevangelized regions of country in 
which the aid and cooperation of the Missions are needed ; 
and that a new plan of cooperation is desirable-—one 
that will define the relations and harmonize the interests 
of the Missions and the Church and that will determine 
the boundaries of their respective fields of operation. 

The plan stipulates: (1) That missionaries shall not be 
‘members of the presbyteries except under special and 
determined circumstances, and that nationals shall not be 
members of the Missions. (2) That missionaries shall 
not become pastors of churches under presbyterial juris- 
diction, nor shall Missions employ in their evangelistic 
work ministers under the jurisdiction of the National 
Church. But there may be mutual interchange of workers 
for determined periods of time and for specified work; 
and exchanges of ministerial service within the bounds of 
fraternal courtesy are approved. (3) That missionaries 
ceded to the National Church for specific forms of 
service shall hold their membership in presbyteries of the 
Church’ at home, reporting their work fully to the com- 
petent authorities. For the cost of such work the Na- 
tional Church shall be responsible. (4) That missionaries 
in developing the work in their own fields shall exercise 
freely all normal ecclesiastical functions, such as receiving 
and disciplining members, organizing congregations and 
churches, and giving and receiving contributions to all the 
causes of the National Church. ‘They are expected to 
cultivate among the churches and congregations a spirit 
of solidarity with the National Church. (5) That the 
‘care of candidates for the ministry and licentiates shall 
be entirely entrusted to the presbyteries. (6) That let- 
ters of dismissal shall be freely interchanged between 
Missions and presbyteries, and the acts of discipline shall 
be mutually respected. (7) That when congregations and 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 259 


churches reach the point where there is promise of self- 
support, or when for other reasons such transfer becomes 
desirable, they may, on the initiative of the Mission or of 
the local church organization, be transferred to the juris- 
diction of the presbytery. (8) That when a church or 
congregation is thus passed over to presbyterial jurisdic- 
tion, before it is capable of self-support, the Mission may 
grant an annual sudsidy in its aid. But such grant shall 
be made for one year only, and, if continued, shall be 
diminished annually in a ratio of eight per cent., at least, 
of the amount at first granted. (9) That by agreement 
between a Mission and the National Church, evangelistic 
territory for which one is held responsible may be turned 
over to the other; while, in case of territory turned over 
by a Mission to the Church, some subsidy, if necessary, 
may be granted to aid in the evangelization thereof. (10) 
That all funds contributed by Missions for the work of 
nationals who are under the direction of the National 
Church shall be paid by Mission treasurers to presbyterial 
treasurers, or to the proper officials of the Church. (11) 
That there shall be a permanent executive committee com- 
posed of six nationals and three representatives of each 
of the Boards, which committee shall meet annually. Its 
duties shall be: (a) To secure the faithful execution of 
the plan of cooperation; (b) to remove all difficulties that 
may arise in its execution; (c) to serve as an intermediary 
between the Missions and the National Church; (d) to 
study the general conditions of the whole country and 
recommend to Missions and Church such measures as 
may contribute to the more rapid evangelization of the 
whole field. 

This plan has worked well in Brazil, where the question 
of improved methods of cooperation between the Missions 
and the National Church first arose. It would probably 
prove helpful or entirely satisfactory, wherever the indi- 
genous Church has its independent autonomous life. It 
is simple and easy of application. It delimits clearly the 
field of the two bodies, but recognizes the need for the 
Missions and the value of their work. It makes possible 
the giving of help by the Missions to the Church and 
avoids many occasions of misunderstanding. 


260 RELATIONSHIPS 


(b) The plan in Japan——A plan of cooperation which 
has been established between the Japan Methodist Church 
and the Methodist Episcopal Missions in Japan has dis- 
tinct features of its own, yet resembles the one in Brazil. 
These features may be quoted from a memorandum 
placed before the last meeting of the International Mis- 
sionary Council at Oxford: 


“The Japan Methodist Church came into existence as an 
autonomous and united denomination about fifteen or sixteen 
years ago. Before that time its several sections were in- 
tegral parts of one or another of the three Methodist 
Churches having Missions in Japan—the Methodist Episco- 
pal, the Methodist Episcopal South and the Canadian 
Methodists. 

“A large part of the work of the Japan Methodist Church 
is supported by subsidies from the three cooperating Mis- 
sions. This subsidy money is administered absolutely 
through Japanese church machinery, from the denomina- 
tional headquarters where the money is received ... from 
the Missions. 

“Certain fields were handed over to the Japanese Church 
and the sums hitherto used to maintain them [were contin- 
ued]. As these fields advanced towards self-support the 
grant was lessened and the amounts available for pioneer, 
independent work under the missionaries has increased. ... 

“It appears, therefore, that instead of the Mission being 
fused with the Church, we have what is practically two 
separate movements being carried on, the one by the Church 
and the other by the Mission. The two organizations work 
on parallel lines, but run out occasional spur lines to one 
another.” 


Only in Japan does the Methodist Church have a sepa- 
rate existence of this sort. In all other mission fields the 
relationship between the denomination in North America 
and the National Churches is connectional. ‘This rela- 
tionship demands a distinct procedure of its own. All 
questions relating to the salaries, vacations and personal 
expenses of missionaries in their work, as well as those 
growing out of the financing and administration of the 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 261 


schools of secondary and superior grade are left with the 
Mission. The location of workers, both missionary and 
national, and the administration of funds granted by the 
Board for the aid and development of the indigenous 
churches are matters confided to the Conference composed 
of missionaries and nationals, and by the Conferences to 
committees made up in the same way. 

It is suggested above that the modus operands, adopted 
by the Missions and the National Presbyterian Church in 
Brazil, may offer a solution for all cases where the indi- 
genous organization is national and fully autonomous. 
Commission Ten would suggest, further, that for churches 
preferring the connectional regime as a permanent ar- 
rangement, this plan of cooperation in use at present by 
the Methodist Episcopal Boards and its Missions seems 
both feasible and desirable. Complaints are heard from 
various quarters concerning its working, and desires for 
a change have been not infrequently expressed. But ex- 
perience seems to indicate that the general scheme is rea- 
sonably satisfactory, and that discontent has arisen largely 
from errors in its application. Complaints would prob- 
ably cease, if steadily larger consideration was given to 
the nationals within the limits of the plan. The Commis- 
sion, therefore, would suggest that larger use be made of 
the national workers as leaders as rapidly as they may be 
prepared to worthily discharge such responsibilities ; and 
it would further suggest that special efforts be put forth 
in all the fields looking to the more rapid preparation of 
nationals for posts of large responsibility. Such a course 
of action is suggested in one of the field reports: 


“When backed by competent men and women who are 
able to handle the work of the Missions, the effect [of such 
appointments] cannot be other than favorable to mission 
efficiency; and there are many nationals and missionaries 
who think there should be an increasing measure of control 
granted to the nationals who may not be classed as experts. 
We believe that it would be worth the price of some loss of 
efficiency in order to develop national leadership. At any 
rate, there should be a definite policy of preparing these 
nationals, not to be helpers merely, but to be directors of 


262 RELATIONSHIPS 


our work, and the preparation should begin at once ... No 
national can make worse blunders than some of our mission- 
aries have made. At least that negative testimony will go 
unchallenged. May it not well be that, looked at positively 
also, a much more encouraging outlook could be accepted? 
There are many who sincerely believe so.” 


These suggestions are in line with the recommen- 
dations and resolutions voted by the Methodist Episcopal 
Central Conference of Latin America at Panama, in 
April, 1924. 

“We recommend that the General Conference empower 
the Central Conference of Methodism to elect their own 
bishops beginning in 1928, so that in this Central Conference, 
for example, Spanish-speaking bishops, whether nationals 
or missionaries, may be elected to the episcopal office. . 
We advise the General Conference that the Central Confer- 
ence would look with great satisfaction upon the election of 
these two Missionary Bishops from among the workers now 
in Latin America, one from among the national workers, 
the other from among the Missionaries.” > 


(c) The plan of the American Board in India.—In view 
of the fact that several Churches that adopt the Congre- 
gational form of government maintain mission work in 
South America, the Commission quotes from the report 
of the meeting of the International Council at Oxford the 
following statements concerning the methods now used 
by the two Missions of the American Board in India: 


“The Marathi Mission of the ABCFM has established a 
General Council, where Indians may be nearly as numerous 
as the foreign missionaries and have equal voice and vote on 
most subjects. Some members are ex officio, others are 
elected in various ways. Since November, 1921, all personal 
matters of missionaries, their location, furloughs, return and 
requests for reinforcement have been subject to consider- 
ation and vote by all members of this Council. In Novem- 
ber, 1922, another step forward was taken in the organizing 


5 Report of the First Central Conference, pp. 26, 27. 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 263 


of an Indian Mission Board, aimed to lead highly educated 
Indian workers to accept service in churches and community 
centers and to depend largely on Indian money rather than 
to become members of the Mission. ‘This Board is com- 
posed of six Indian leaders and two American missionaries. 
Its duties are to conduct Christian work in its area, to train, 
appoint and supervise workers and to secure and administer 
funds. To this Board the Marathi Mission has transferred 
all the funds that come from America for the work in its 
area; to carry on its work adequately the Board needs to 
secure a substantial sum from Indian sources.” 

“Again, the Madura Mission of the ABCFM, in addition 
to its own organization, has its Church Council, which has 
semi-annual meetings and definite functions and responsi- 
bilities. ... The power of stationing missionaries and of 
making grants to the Council from foreign funds sent over 
is still retained by the Mission. Indian Christians represent- 
ing the churches are now in charge of some of the ‘ circles,’ 
so-called, which have the care of the church and school life 
in various sections of the Mission area.” 


Reference should also be made to the recent action taken 
by the North China Mission of the American Board. This 
mission has been wholly absorbed. ‘The same is true of 
the Arcot Mission of the Reformed Church in the U. S. 
A. Note also that in case of the Church Missionary So- 
ciety in India the administration of the churches has been 
transferred to the dioceses. 

It is clear that the present tendency on the part of all 
Mission Boards, and in all the countries where mission 
work is conducted, is to place more and more responsibil- 
ity upon the nationals and to throw an increasingly heavy 
part of the burdens of adminisration upon the indig- 
enous churches. ‘This is wise and commendable, for 
only in this way can these churches be prepared to carry 
the burdens of responsibility that must finally rest entirely 
upon them. It is much better that mistakes be made oc- 
casionally, even though they may be serious ones, than 
that these young churches be left without adequate train- 
ing for their tasks. To fail to equip them for their 
coming responsibilities is the most serious of mistakes. 


264 RELATIONSHIPS 


5. Existing Relationships in Financial Matters. 

Since one of the most fruitful sources of misunder- 
standing and trouble arises out of financial relationships, 
the various systems now in use deserve and demand 
discussion. 

(a) The system used in determining the expenditures 
of funds sent out by missionary societies and of those 
raised on the field—The system used depends in large 
measure on the form of organization adopted by the 
churches and Missions. In Brazil, among the Presby- 
terians, all funds for the support of missionaries and 
their individual work; as well as those destined to the 
support of institutional work, or of work done by na- 
tionals under the direction of the missionaries, are admin- 
istered by the Missions. All funds contributed on the 
field for the support of the work of the National Church, 
for pastors’ salaries, for evangelistic work, for Sunday- 
schools, for publication, or for the support of theological 
seminaries and their students, are administered exclusively 
by the national Church. Funds voted by the Missions as 
subsidies for churches turned over to the presbyteries or 
to aid in the evangelistic work of the presbyteries, or for 
other needs of the national churches are paid by mission 
treasurers in monthly or quarterly installments to the 
presbyterial treasurers or to the proper officials of the 
Church. 

The plan followed in the case of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Churches South is different. Funds for mission- 
aries and for institutional work are administered as by the 
Presbyterians; but funds sent out by the Board for the 
support of national workers and their work, as well as 
those raised on the field for the support of the causes of 
the churches, are administered through the channels of 
the Conference, either by its regular committees or by 
special committees composed of both missionaries and 
nationals and appointed for this special purpose. 

It is believed by many students of mission policies that 
the more rigorously the principle of having monies sent 
by foreign Boards for the work of missionaries admin- 
istered by the Missions, and those raised on the field or 
sent by the Boards for use of the indigenous church ad- 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS $265 


ministered by the church itself is followed, the greater 
will be the probability of harmony and good feeling be- 
tween the cooperating bodies. One field report goes so 
far as to say on this subject: 


“Of course there can be but one control over foreign 
monies, and the examination of any plan will show that in the 
end this control is absolutely with the Board and Church at 
home. Any appearance of any other result is an illusion. 
The Board and Church may enter more or less minutely into 
the case, but in the end they must be satisfied or there is no 
money to control, Equally local monies must be spent to the 
satisfaction of local givers or there is none to spend.” 


But others believe, just as earnestly, that for some time 
to come the Church at home, through the missionary 
Board, should itself give financial aid to the rising Church 
abroad and that in the administration of these grants, mis- 
sionaries and nationals should be jointly included. ~ 

(b) The influence of nationals in making adjustments. 
—This important question is thus answered by one field 
report: “In any of the churches, any suggestion made or 
plan offered by a national is likely to receive more careful 
consideration than one offered by a missionary, both on 
the field and in the United States.” In general, it can be 
said that both the Missions and the Boards are ready to 
attend to any request coming from national workers or 
from the national church organization, when the request 
is along the lines of the general policies that have been 
adopted and when the granting of the request is possible. 

(c) The use of missionary money for local or national 
expenditures——One open question is whether missionary 
money should be drawn upon for paying the salaries of 
pastors or the expenses of national congregations, for 
building churches or homes for pastors, etc. The follow- 
ing answer comes from the field: 


“In regard to pastors’ salaries, as a pastor, giving all his 
time to pastoral work in the churches, no national should 
receive aid from mission funds. As an evangelist, it is per- 
missible but in most cases is unwise. Nearly all the so- 


266 RELATIONSHIPS 


called pastorates are at first largely to promote mission 
evangelization and as such the local church can scarcely be 
expected to take care of them. However, if it be made clear 
to the congregation that its members are only entitled to the 
part of its minister’s time represented by their share in his 
support, and that the remainder of his time should be given 
to work outside the congregation, much better results will be 
obtained for the church and the pastor. Aid in support of 
pastors should be granted to the churches for evangelistic 
work in their vicinity and never to the pastor.” 


The above statement distinguishes between pastoral and 
evangelistic work. Yet these responsibilities are largely 
one and the same. Whatever may be said of an ideal plan 
toward which we are all working, it is probably true that 
most Boards do make grants of monies that go partly to 
the support of the pastors of national organizations. In 
regard to assistance in the erection of church buildings, 
this is said: 


“In the beginnings of mission work it may be necessary 
to anticipate the existence of a self-supporting, church- 
building congregation by erecting a dignified building capable 
of seating many more hearers than the congregation num- 
bers at the time, in order that the gospel may be presented 
to the community in a suitable manner. This, of course, calls 
for foreign money. No one can overestimate the stabilizing 
effect of the erection of the Presbyterian and Methodist 
churches of Rio, S. Paulo and Bello Horizonto, and of some 
of the beautiful buildings erected later by the Episcopal Mis- 
sion in Rio Grande do Sul. On the other hand, the time 
soon comes when it is better that each congregation, with 
perhaps some aid from its sister congregations, erect its own 
building. The house will be dearer to the congregation in 
proportion to the percentage of its own money employed. 
The edifices of the Presbyterians of Bahia, the Igreja Unida 
of S. Paulo, and scores of others built by national effort 
proclaim the power of thé national church to house itself. 
In other countries the first case may continue in force, but 
it is safe in any family never to give any child anything he 
can get by his own efforts.” 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 267 


National churches should certainly be expected to pro- 
vide homes for the national pastors. But it would be a 
wise policy if, in the beginning of its life, the National 
Church would begin to form—by collections, gifts and 
legacies—a loan fund for the erection of churches and 
manses. 

(d) Relation of salaries of nationals and mission- 
aries—This puzzling question must be settled fairly, if 
the best cooperation between missionaries and nationals 
is to be obtained. Such a settlement seems possible 
through an exchange of views among all interested par- 
ties, although one of the reports from the field urges 
that the question should not be raised at this time. 

In approaching such a subject there are many impor- 
tant factors to be taken into consideration. Probably the 
most important one is the fact that no rigid standard of 
comparison between the salaries of foreign’ missionaries 
and nationals can be established. It is impossible, in view 
of the differences in educational preparation, qualities of 
leadership, experience, etc., existing between different in- 
dividuals, to lay down the rule that such salaries shall be 
‘determined at a certain fixed ratio. Even in the United 
States, where the Protestant ministry is a fairly well 
standardized profession, the average salary paid to. min- 
isters of the evangelical churches varies as much as fifty 
per cent. in the various denominations. In one denomi- 
nation the average is less than eight hundred dollars per 
annum, while in another it is about fourteen hundred 
dollars. . 

In the denomination showing an average of under eight 
hundred dollars per year, there are many ministers re- 
ceiving less than that amount, a large group receiving in 
-excess of five thousand dollars per year, a much smaller 
group being paid ten thousand, and possibly one or two 
as much as fifteen thousand dollars per year. This large 
variation is determined by the personal ability of the min- 
isters in question, their previous training and experience, 
the average wealth of their congregations, and by many 
other factors. In the case of these large salaries, it should 
be borne in mind that in the ministry, as in the law and 
in medicine, the largest incomes are received by men who 


268 RELATIONSHIPS 


have had from twenty to forty years of experience in 
their chosen profession. Lawyers and doctors, as well as 
ministers, scarcely ever receive more than the barest living 
wage in the early days of their careers. 

This same variation in salaries is seen in the mission 
field among the national ministers. Some of them receive 
salaries of generous proportions, entirely sufficient to en- 
able them to associate with other professional men on 
terms of equality. In a few of these cases, the salary of 
nationals is in excess of the amount being received by 
able foreign missionaries in the same field after many 
years’ service of a highly successful character. The few 
national ministers who come in this class, however, are 
university-trained men with many years of experience in 
the Christian ministry and with demonstrated capacity for 
the leadership of Christian enterprises. Such training 
and such ability will usually command an income some- 
what in keeping with the needs of the position occupied. 

And yet there are some basic principles upon which the 
determination of salaries may be based. ‘The Federal 
Council of Churches of Christ in America, the recent 
meeting of the Methodist missionaries in Panama, and 
other influential bodies have declared their belief in a 
living wage for all workers. Can we do less than apply 
this elementary step in social justice to our Latin Ameri- 
can ministers? Certainly we may lay it down as a prin- 
ciple that the full-time worker who has taken the training 
prescribed for the ministry in his own field and completed 
this training with credit to himself, is entitled to an income 
that will provide him with something more than the bare 
minimum of food, clothing and shelter. It should surely 
be sufficient to enable him to maintain what we are ac- 
customed to describe as “a Christian home.” The exact 
amount will vary in different fields and with different 
individuals, as it does in the United States and in all 
other countries. It should be based primarily upon the 
cost of living in the worker’s own locality. 

This Commission suggests that the best agency for 
determining such a question would be a joint committee 
of nationals and foreign missionaries in each field, every 
one familiar with the whole field. ‘This joint committee 


MISSIONARY AND NATIONAL GROUPS 269 


should be charged with the determination both of the 
standard of living thought desirable and practicable for 
the national ministry and of the amount of money re- 
quired for maintaining this standard. Such a standard 
might well be subject to frequent revision in conformity 
with changes in the cost of living. 

There are, of course, not a few today among missionary 
administrators who think that the determination of the 
salaries should be in the hands of the nationals themselves, 
the burden of finding the funds and of administering them 
being placed on their shoulders. 

Such a joint committee, as above suggested, ought to 
have in mind the following factors in any consideration 
of this difficult subject: 

(1) That the North American Church or missionary 
organization which sends the missionary to the field is 
not a newly formed and unstable body, but a highly de- 
veloped organization produced through several gener- 
ations of earnest effort and only recently arriving at the 
point where it is able to send out missionaries carefully 
selected, properly educated and adequately financed. 
When the North American Church was young, its min- 
isters served it through the most impossible hardships, 
without regular salaries, proper living conditions or op- 
portunities to educate their children. These severe sacri- 
fices were unquestionably hard on the individual, but 
without them there would have been no such strong and 
well-equipped churches as we have in North America 
today. The early missionaries sent out by these churches 
to the foreign field were underpaid and under-supported 
in practically every particular, as compared with today. 
Yet they achieved great things for the kingdom of God 
and lived to see the day when a missionary might be rea- 
sonably sure of a small and inadequate but regular salary. 
‘The missionary grandsons of these pioneers now receive 
a regular salary, have a small but helpful allowance to 
care for the dependents in their families, are aided in 
case of unusually heavy medical expense and are pro- 
vided with proper facilities in the shape of buildings, sup- 
plies and means of necessary transportation. This change 
has taken place gradually and as the result of two con- 


270 RELATIONSHIPS 


ditions: the increasing financial resources of the member- 
ship of the supporting churches and the educational 
process which has made the members willing to grant 
their ministers and missionaries something more than a 
bare subsistence. There is every reason to expect that 
this gradual evolution will be repeated in those countries 
where the Evangelical Church has only recently been es- 
tablished. ‘lhe necessary increase in wealth, consecration 
and numbers can only result, as in other lands, from the 
bitter sacrifices of the pioneers who are willing to work 
with the meagre materials at hand. In some of the older 
mission fields this evolution is already well on the way. 

(2) When an organization, religious or commercial, 
sends a representative into a foreign country, the salary 
provided is nearly always in excess of the amount com- 
manded by the same effort and ability in the home coun- 
try. ‘The reason for this is that extra expenses are in- 
variably incurred by a man living in a country where he 
is unused to the climate, where he is unfamiliar with ways 
of reducing the cost of living, where he has no relatives 
to aid him in an emergency, and where the education of 
his children entails expenses unknown at home. 

(3) It is extremely undesirable that any condition be 
created under which young men will be moved to enter 
the Christian ministry because it provides better financial 
support than is probable in other lines of endeavor for 
which their abilities fit them. 

The solution is affected by the currency problem. It 
may be said in general that the national minister pays less 
for everything that he buys than the foreigner pays for 
the same article. He knows the local equivalents of many 
imported articles and is accustomed to their use. He is at 
home in the environment and can take a regular part in 
the affairs of the community. In matters of health he is 
in his natural climate. In view of this, it would perhaps 
be fair to say that in a period of fixed exchange—, ¢., 
oscillations within ten per cent.—about seventy-five per 
cent. of a missionary salary would be a fair proportion, 
if the two men have approximately the same preparation. 
If the national pastor be simply a layman ordained 
without preparation, comparison is impossible, The 


; 





SELF-SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS = _ 271 


churches should see to it that the minister’s salary ac- 
companies proportionally the remuneration of other 
professional men. 


III. SkrLr-SuprporTING ORGANIZATIONS AND ‘THEIR 
RELATIONS TO MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 


Self-support has of necessity developed slowly in most 
parts of the South American field. What should be said 
concerning self-supporting congregations will be discussed 
later. As to self-supporting missions, one of the field 
reports says: 


“ Self-supporting missions, 7. e., missions that are entirely 
supported by the work of their members, are practically im- 
possible. They break down the moment it is necessary to 
use the whole time of a worker to accomplish some end. 
Self-supporting missionaries and self-supporting units of 
mission work are, however, possible, desirable and even 
necessary. Practically all school work should in a short 
time be self-supporting. All medical work in South America, 
all agricultural work, except that which is experimental, 
should be on a self-supporting basis. A station with these 
classes of work and an evangelist should be eighty per cent. 
self-supporting.” 


It is interesting to note that this judgment varies con- 
siderably from the one often expressed that the National 
Church is the one part of the work that ought to be self- 
supporting, since the workers are serving directly their 
own people. On the other hand, the great educational and 
social institutions that often require endowments or com- 
munity help, may naturally expect help from foreign 
sources, until the general community in the country is 
ready to supply such support. 


IV. SELF-PROPAGATION, 
1. The Extent to Which the National Churches Are Pre- 
pared to Reach Their Nations. 


(a) In Argentina-—The report from Argentina de- 
clares that the national churches are ill prepared to evan- 


272 RELATIONSHIPS 


gelize their own people. First, because few of them seem 
to have the vision of their need. ‘The home missionary 
spirit needs tremendous stimulation. Some feel it will 
not come in great power until the foreign missionary im- 
pulse has been better developed. The national local 
churches tend to be too self-centered, just as in the home 
countries. They are no worse there than here, but being 
so few and so weak, the effect is more disastrous and the 
task appears much greater.“ Second, because of the great 
shortage of men and women filled with and impelled by 
the spirit of sacrificial service, who must be found in 
heroic measure if any field is to be won for Christ. 

(b) In Brazil—The Brazil report divides the national 
territory into the following nine blocks: (1) The Federal 
district, (2) Sao Paulo, (3) Rio de Janeiro, (4) Minas 
and Espirito Santo, (5) Parana, (6) Pernambuco, Ala- 
goas, Parahyba, and Rio Grande do Norte, (7) Bahia, 
Sergipe and Rio Grande do Sul, (8) Santa Catharina and 
Goyaz, (9) Ceara, Maranhao, Para, Amazonas, Piahuy, 
Matto Grosso and Acre, and says that they rank probably 
in the order named in the possibility of their being reached 
by the national churches with the gospel. The report 
continues: “In the first four mentioned, exception being 
made of certain districts, the continued effort of foreign- 
ers, except in auxiliary capacities, is rather a hindrance 
than a help to the spread of the gospel.” It further sug- 
gests that large parts of (5)-(7) very wisely may be left 
to national effort, while the last two areas, with the pos- 
sible exception of small districts, are entirely mission 
territory. With this interesting and striking presentation 
of the case some would not fully agree, considering the 
limitation of the field for missionary activity somewhat 
exaggerated. The last two regions, numbered (8) and 
(9), contain, perhaps, two-thirds of Brazil’s territory, and 
possibly about one-tenth of the population; so that the 
above statement probably leaves two-thirds of Brazil’s 
territory and one-third of its seh legitimate field 
for missionary activity. 

(c) In Chile——-While there is a growing spirit of re- 
sponsibility in Chile for evangelizing its own field, indi- 
cated by the formation of a national missionary society 


ATTAINMENT OF SELF-SUPPORT 273 


among the Methodist churches, and a somewhat similar 
organization among the Presbyterian churches, it must be 
recognized that as yet the national forces are in no sense 
adequately prepared to reach their own people. 

The Evangelical groups in Peru and Bolivia are in even 
greater degree dependent on outside help in the evangel- 
ization of their people. 


2. The Place of the Missionary in a Self-Sustatning, 
Self-Directing, Evangelizing Church. 

One answer to this question declares: “In the autono- 
mous national church, the foreigner has no place as evan- 
gelist, pastor, or overseer. ‘There are, however, various 
auxiliary services which he can render, all of a more or 
less educational nature. Certain school work will require 
more capital and more technical skill than the Church can 
command. Seminary work will demand men trained 
abroad. The secretary of Sunday-school work in Brazil 
is an excellent type of a most useful relation. All these 
are temporary.” 

To this, the Argentine report adds that missionaries 
may be used in circumstances above named, “in preparing 
nationals for carrying on in the future certain specialized 
departments and phases of service ;’”’ and continues: ‘“‘ The 
Central Methodist Church of Montevideo is doing this 
very thing for the coming year, employing a competent 
missionary, paying three-fourths of her salary, but direct- 
ing her work itself. It is an experiment that is worth 
watching, for it bids fair to succeed.” 


V. Tur ATTAINMENT OF SELF-SUPPORT. 


1. Progress Made Since 1916 by Churches. 

Data for a comparative statement of results in 1916 
and in 1924 are not available. Information from Vene- 
zuela is to the effect that “no Protestant Church in 
Venezuela has attained self-support. One, the Presby- 
terian Church of Caracas, has made a forward step in 
that direction, and gives about $320 per year, paid in 
quarterly offerings.” An extract from a report from 
Colombia says: “ The question of self-support in our city 
churches is complicated by many factors and especially 


274 RELATIONSHIPS 


by contrary precedents of long standing. However, our 
country churches are just beginning to be developed in 
Colombia, so that the idea of self-support can be builded 
into them from the beginning.” From Argentina comes 
this statement: “In the largest group of churches (the 
Methodist) self-support has increased from 150 to 200 
per cent. since 1916.” Two of the Southern Baptist 
Churches are self-supporting. But it is clear that there 
is much yet to be done. 

(a) Self-Support in Brazil—tIn some parts of Brazil, 
the cause of self-support has developed slowly, but even 
in these sections not a little has been accomplished. In 
other sections of the country the progress has been worthy 
of note. One of the encouraging features of the work in 
Brazil is the ability of the national churches—alone or 
grouped in pastorates—to care for their own pastors and 
the rapidity with which this movement for self-support 
develops. It would probably be near the truth, if the 
statement were made that in the southern and south- 
central sections of Brazil, something like eighty per cent. 
of the work done by the Presbyterian churches is self- 
supporting. This includes, of course, the work done by 
the Independent Presbyterian Church, as well as that done 
by the other Presbyterian body. 

The conditions in the Central Brazil Mission of the 
Presbyterian Church U. 8. A. are thus stated by one of 
the missionaries : 


“Tn this field there are eight single churches, or groups 
of churches served by native pastors, of which only one 
group is entirely self-supporting. The other seven receive 
about three-sevenths of their support from the Mission.” | 


He adds that the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church which met at Recife, Pernambuco, in January of 
1923, reported a sum approximately equivalent to $120,- 
000. Probably a half of the eighty-eight national pastors 
receive no foreign aid. | 

Dr. T. B. Ray is authority for the statement that in 
Brazil 151 churches, approximately one-half of the South- 
ern Baptist Churches, are self-supporting. 





ATTAINMENT OF SELF-SUPPORT 275 


There are many very interesting movements, local and 
general, looking toward a larger liberality in giving and a 
larger scale of self-support. In the membership of the 
Southern Methodist Church of Brazil there has been 
developing for some time a very vigorous nationalistic 
movement. Official representatives of the Board of Mis- 
sions met a large group of national leaders in the city of 
Piracicaba, in 1921, and for several hours frankly dis- 
cussed the whole situation. A good understanding was 
reached, and as one of the results the movement toward 
self-support for the entire Mission in its three con- 
ferences has been greatly accelerated. The Christian 
Expositor, the organ for the three Methodist Annual 
Conferences in Brazil, under date of April 23, 1924, 
brings the news of a notable incident in Brazilian Meth- 
odism. In the city of Sao Paulo there was held, from 
the 5th to the 9th of March, 1924, a conference of leading 
Methodist preachers representing all the Annual Con- 
ferences, and all Brazilian nationals. ‘The outstanding 
action of this conference proposed what was named “ The 
Great Plan.” This plan was to be submitted:to the three 
Annual Conferences for their endorsement. It is prob- 
able that these three Conferences have adopted the general 
provisions of this plan, though definite information to that 
effect has not yet been received. ‘The substance of the 
plan is contained in the following burning exhortation, 
published in the Expositor: 


“Hear, then, dearly beloved colleagues and coworkers in 
the blessed cause of the Master, the resumé of ‘The Great 
Plan.’ The Brazilian Methodist Church desires to dispense 
with the aid of the Board of Foreign Missions in the support 
of its preachers. 

“Fach year the sixth part of the sum granted by the 
Board of Foreign Missions shall be withdrawn and substi- 
tuted by a corresponding sum from the fund raised for na- 
tional missions. Within six years the Brazilian Methodist 
preachers shall be supported by the Brazilian Methodist 
believers. } 

“The Great Plan was not determined upon, (1) with an 
eye to breaking our relationship with world-wide Methodism, 


276 RELATIONSHIPS 


for we desire to conserve our organic union; nor (2) for 
the purpose of closing the mouth of Romanism; nor (3) for 
ostentation of faith or of financial possibilities. It was de- 
vised because we are convinced that it 1s our duty to make 
sacrifices for the cause, and that it is the duty of the Church 
of Christ to support those who preach the Word and instruct 
believers in the Way of Life. Beyond that, beloved breth- 
ren, we need to convince ourselves that the full-grown son 
has no right to fill himself with the bread that his parents 
need to give to their minor children. 

“There are in our day thousands of men famishing for 
the Bread of Life. If.the Brazilian Methodist Church shall 
tomorrow pay the native preachers in full, Methodism will 
send to the missionary fields, or to the outlying fields of 
Brazil, thirty additional heralds of the gospel. It is this 
imperious, sympathetic and genuinely Christian motive that 
authorizes us to speak to our colleagues and members of the 
Church, asking unconditional support for the Great Plan. 
The desire of the Methodist preachers who met in Sao Paulo 
is that the entire quota dispensed with by us shall be em- 
ployed in a new missionary work in other states of Brazil. 
Therefore, to dispense with the aid for our support, is to 
contribute to the salvation of hundreds of Brazilians. This 
objective merits the sacrifices of preachers and laymen.” 


The above appeal, representing a conference spontane- 
ously called together on the initiative of the entire group of 
national church leaders, is significant as indicating a grow- 
ing sense of strength and responsibility, and a highly cred- 
itable and promising enlargement of vision and purpose. 

(b) Self-Support in Chile—A member of the Commis- 
sion from Chile has furnished the following statement 
relating to that Republic: 





“In Chile during the year 1923-24 three Presbyterian and 
two Methodist Episcopal churches were self-supporting in 
the accepted sense. In view of a general desire for in- 
creased salaries beyond the giving power of struggling con- 
gregations, inasmuch as self-maintenance is relative and 
subject to alteration from year to year, these figures are 
subject to change. 


ATTAINMENT OF SELF-SUPPORT 277 


“In Chile, our instructed Christians are not parasitical. 
Their natural pride and robust patriotism urge them to 
declare financial independence. They are averse to receiv- 
ing subsidies under any paternal policy. Cultivation of the 
idea of systematic and proportionate giving, the idea of the 
stewardship of life have proved stimulating. So among the 
Brazilian Evangelicals, as well as among the Argentinos and 
Uruguayos of better social, industrial and professional 
status, where earning power is greater, the organized groups 
are better able to meet their financial obligations. 

“In the middle West of the United States a church which 
contributes five per cent. of the yearly total of its members’ 
earning power is able to maintain its pastor above the av- 
erage of comfort and give at least two to three per cent. to 
benevolences. In Latin America our small churches of poor 
communicants would require to yield at least twelve to 
eighteen per cent. of their earning power to meet this re- 
quirement. The long discipline under a Roman Catholic 
tariff for church ministrations and under the Roman Cath- 
olic system of assessment and intimidation has necessarily 
brought on a reaction unfavorable to Protestant methods. 
According to agreement with churches, the Presbytery of 
Chile expects them to make increase each year, viz., the 
missionary grant is decreased and the congregation is ex- 
pected to augment its proportion.” 


In Chile the last few years have seen a steady, if not 
rapid, progress in the matter of self-support. From 
1917 to 1922 the Methodist churches increased their 
giving by one hundred per cent. Self-support was 
reached by two churches, though, due to economic dis- 
turbances following the close of the war, one of these was 
obliged to seek aid again from the Mission. Several 
churches in the Presbyterian group have attained com- 
plete self-support and are paying now for the buildings 
provided for them by the Mission. Not a few churches 
in both communions have been accumulating building 
funds for a number of years. The proportion of total 
building costs provided by the local congregations has 
steadily increased. 

The value of self-support cannot be overemphasized. 


278 RELATIONSHIPS 


The effort in behalf of financial independence reacts on 
all branches of the church’s life and activity. 


2. Methods by Which Self-Support May Be Gained. 


The introduction of a budget system and of the every- 
member canvass quite invariably gives good results; the 
organization and larger development of the juvenile and 
women’s societies, including the presbyterial organization, 
have done much to further a general participation of 
congregations; while the propaganda in behalf of the 
tithe as a minimum standard of Christian benevolence has 
had its effect. . 

Naturally the formal organization of societies for 
sustentation and domestic missions and their development 
has done more than anything else to call forth effort and 
to enlarge the results for self-support. The autonomous 
churches support their own pastors and make contribu- 
tions, often generous ones, in support of weaker congre- 
gations and to aid in the salaries of ministers who give a 
considerable part of their time to evangelistic activities 
beyond the confines of their parishes. It would be ideal if 
foreign financial aid could be given to a church as such (as 
in Brazil) to enable it to employ its own workers instead 
_of having them in the employ of the missions. 

In order that the members of each local congregation 
may have the question of sacrificial giving clearly pre- 
sented to them, it has been suggested that there might be 
a joint campaign carried on simultaneously by various 
local churches in a community or even in a whole country 
involving (1) sermons on stewardship by the pastors; 
(2) the adoption of an annual budget by each local con- 
gregation, arranged by its official board but discussed and 
approved by the entire congregation; (3) a visitation of 
each member by officers of the congregation to discuss the 
subject of stewardship and to secure definite promise of 
support for the expenses of the congregation and of other 
enterprises of benevolence to which the congregation gives 
help. If such a simultaneous cooperative plan were 


adopted, it would popularize such a movement and make * 


it easy for all who join it to unite in the production of 
the literature essential to its success. 


—— ee ee 


THE DUTY OF CHURCH EXTENSION $279 


One correspondent says of the Southern Baptist 
churches: 


“We work at this business of securing self-support in a 
very natural way. The missionary in charge of any par- 
ticular field, or the missionaries in any field, constantly em- 
phasize the importance of the churches’ taking up as rapidly 
as possible self-support. ‘These missionaries use their judg- 
ment as to how much the Foreign Mission Board should 
supplement the gifts made by the natives. The methods used 
are those which appeal to the missionary as emphasizing 
self-support.”’ 


VI. THE Duty oF CHuRCH EXTENSION. 


1. Progress Made Since 1916. 


The field reports received do not discuss this topic, but 
no more important subject can engage the attention of the 
Congress. The primary duty of the Christian is to propa- 
gate the faith that saved him, and the best index to the 
spirituality of the Church is found in its activities for 
the extension of the Christian faith. It is safe to say that 
the activities of the pastors, officers and members of the 
national churches in South America in behalf of the souls 
of men compare favorably with those of the same classes 
in the churches of the homeland. Unfortunately, such 
activities are only too rare either at home or abroad. 
However, the conditions, in Brazil at least, are far from 
discouraging, and they tend to improve from year to 
year. ‘The majority of the pastors seem to be awaking to 
the duty of aggressive evangelism and to a comprehen- 
sion of the vast and unused resources in the officers and 
members of local churches. Many of the country pas- 
tors do a large amount of itinerating in the regions 
beyond, and many of those filling pulpits in the larger 
cities do work in the suburbs of their own towns and in 
the nearby villages; and besides, they organize the forces 
of their churches for active evangelism in and out of 
the city. , 

‘There are paragraphs in the report made by Commis- 
sion Six on “The Church in the Field” to the Panama 


280 RELATIONSHIPS 


Congress that need to be read and reread by all pastors 
and Christian workers, but especially by leaders of mis- 
sion work and of nascent national churches. ‘That report 
declared : 


“ By contributions of unremunerated service the Apostolic 
Church spread from home to home and from city to 
city. .. . Had the apostles waited to open work in Antioch, 
Thessalonica and Rome until they had raised from the poor 
churches already established sufficient funds to send and 
maintain qualified workers who should be provided with 
roomy and ornate buildings for work and worship, there 
never would have beerf any Christian Church.” “One rises 
from a fresh reading of the Acts of the Apostles with a 
feeling that at no time and in no way was the question of 
raising money an administrative problem of serious sort in 
connection with the founding and spread of the Church in 
Asia Minor and Europe.” ... “Too many go to the foreign 
fields having this ideal formed in the homeland, of the ma- 
terial equipment needed for normal church life so fixed in 
their minds that they cannot conceive of a church without 
it.’ ... “It is all the more strange that we should fall into 
this error when we find in the Scriptures twenty-eight chap- 
ters of inspired church history covering the first period of 
missionary effort, a record specially inspired of the Holy 
Spirit ‘for our learning,’ which shows strong churches 
founded without the help of outside funds, and supporting 
themselves and pushing out into unevangelized regions with- 
out a single contribution from any one outside of their 
own circle.” 6 


After saying this and much more of the same kind, 
Commission Six cited examples of wonderful work done 
in China, the Philippines and in Africa by the activities 
of native Christians without any aid, financial or other- 
wise, except the help of the Lerd and of their native 
brethren. The Church of Christ, in the homeland as well 
as on the mission fields, needs to learn anew this lesson 
and to lay it to heart. 


6 Panama Congress Reports, Vol. II, p. 262, 





THE DUTY OF CHURCH EXTENSION _ 281 


2. Methods of Promotion. 

Wise methods vary somewhat from field to field and 
from country to country. The principal methods, though, 
are the following: In the first place, individual work for 
individuals; then the organization and nurture of young 
people’s societies and other similar organizations for 
adolescents, of juvenile societies, of Sunday-schools and 
other forms of evangelistic work which can be carried on 
by laymen under the direction of and with the cooperation 
of pastors and church officers. 

There are churches in South America, and some of 
them not among the stronger congregations in point of 
view of membership, that maintain from five to ten 
Sunday-schools in the suburbs of their own town, in 
nearby villages and even on neighboring plantations. 
There are strong city churches that.maintain from fifteen 
to twenty Sunday-schools and points of activity where 
prayer meetings and preaching services are regularly held. 
Such are some of the methods by which the national 
churches are trying to extend their influence and to bring 
the gospel message to the masses of the unsaved. As 
stated above, the tendency seems to be growing from year 
to year, the movement is gaining impetus. But while this 
is so, there is no subject on which the Montevideo Con- 
gress needs to lay more stress than upon the need of 
more effort and more intensive effort to evangelize the 
nations, and no discussion can be more fruitful than that 
of the methods most efficient in accomplishing this su- 
preme task. 

The Commission has taken account of the movements 
for change, and gladly recognizes that they are promising, 
constituting a valuable factor in the development of an 
indigenous Church. It has ventured to propose certain 
general objectives for any effort to guide the national 
aspiration of the rising Church, and to solve the problems 
growing naturally out of the expression of the national 
consciousness. Allowing that the chief problem is one of 
application, the Commission has further considered cer- 
tain technical aspects of the problem, growing out of (a) 
the relationship of the Church in South America to the 
foreign forces giving it support, and (b) the relationship 


289 : RELATIONSHIPS 


of the foreign worker to the national, or the Mission to 
‘the National Church. 

Now, while the report discusses these formal or ecclesi- 
astical relationships, undertaking to face without avoid- 
ance all the issues involved for the work of missions in 
South American countries, the Commission fully recog- 
nizes that it has not, in any of the above studies, gone 
entirely to the bottom of the essential) factor involved. 
Whatever the exact relationship between the national and 
the foreign missionary in any one of the Church one 
izations, deeper than that formal connection is always, 1 
actual life. the vital factor of personal relations. Hee 
whatever the method of appointment of workers, when 
the appointment is made, the problem is not all solved. 
The solution comes only in a practical, human, Christian 
working out of a sensible plan of cooperation, based upon, 
and bound up with, right personal relations. 

The national has his theory of missionary relationship, 
but in almost every case that theory is based upon some 
contact or influence, or incident, connected with his as- 
sociation with the missionary. If he is dissatisfied with 
present relations, it is usually because, either consciously 
or unconsciously, he has found irksome his intercourse 
with some foreign worker. On the contrary, if he is 
fitting into the plan, growing normally, taking his proper 
place in the growing Church, it is generally because some 
missionary has been wise in his personal intercourse and 
dealing with him. The foreign worker always believes 
theoretically that he must decrease while the national in- 
creases, but he himself will usually confess that he falls 
short in the daily application of his doctrine. He carries, 
and: sometimes allows to obtrude, his own national con- 
sciousness, in such a way as to offend the national 
consciousness of his brother. ‘That attitude, quite un- 
consciously, no doubt, but just as effectively, will some- 
times: involve social relations. ‘Thus the national gets 
the impression that the missionary thinks himself superior. 
But perhaps the most frequent and therefore most serious 
attitude occupied by the missionary, because of the char- 
acter of his relationship as teacher, is that from the be- 
ginning of his work he has come to think of the national 


ne 





THE DUTY OF CHURCH EXTENSION — 283 


as a child, dearly beloved, but not strong enough to walk 
alone. In matters, therefore, of initiative and direction, 
holding of office and direction of finance, while the for- 
eigner means to trust his brother, he is tardy in taking 
the risk. He fails to give to his brother national, who is 
often his son in the gospel, that good play of responsi- 
bility so necessary to the development of self-reliant and 
effective national leadership. 

It is therefore at this point of personal relationship 
and personal cooperation between the missionary and the 
national leader that the two sections of the Church must 
diligently seek understanding. Undoubtedly such special 
study of this relationship at the Montevideo Congress has 
not come too soon. This relationship has always been 
vital, and missionary bodies have not been unmindful of 
the problems involved. But in the growing conscious- 
ness of the national churches and in the increased effi- 
ciency of national leaders, this factor within a few years 
has so grown as to assume peculiar importance. It is the 
hope of the Commission that the matter will be given 
frank and careful attention at the Montevideo Congress 
and that some plan be adopted for a continued cooper- 
ative study of the subject. It might also be well that 
individual denominations should give attention to it, ap- 
pointing suitable commissions for the further study of 
the question. The wise administrator of a foreign mis- 
sionary society, burdened as he is with routine matters of 
finance, will need to remind himself that his responsibility 
in relation to this question is particularly important. He 
will be patient and sympathetic with proposals of change 
and adjustment. Especially will he be more discriminat- 
ing in his selection of missionaries, having regard more 
than ever to the candidate’s temperament and disposition, 
his capacity for adjustment and cooperation. The wise 
missionary administrator will see that the missionary goes 
to the field properly instructed, aware of the danger of 
hurting if he bungles, but of his equally great chance, if 
he is considerate, to take a worthy part in the building up 
of a great national leadership. 

But when conferences, commissions and missionary 
administrators have done their best, there is still left the 


284 RELATIONSHIPS 


same personal relationship between the missionary and 
the national. Certain rules and general principles are 
available and have indeed been set forth in this report. 
But the most important consideration is the fact that there 
is a point in cooperation at which rules fail, and when 
only a man’s spirit counts. Surely the great Master of 
this relationship is our Lord Himself. Jew, Samaritan, 
Greek—in his relationships with all classes of men this 
great Lord of human relationships knew what to do and 
how to do it. It is only His spirit of grace and, wisdom 
that will find for the leader, national or foreigner, the 
Christian way of cooperation. If he is looking for a rule 
or principle, there is none half so good, or so workable, 
as the Golden Rule. The national will put himself anew 
into the place of the foreigner, imagine his position in an 
alien country, with wife and children in a strange and 
unnatural habitat far away from home and friends, with 
different health and living conditions, but having come to 
this new home surely with only one purpose, that of help- 
fulness. ‘The national worker will face that fact that his 
life is tied definitely to that of his own people and that if 
he is to be their leader, his position, standard of living and 
place in the ecclesiastical organization must all be deter- 
mined by such relations with his own people rather than 
by any foreign standards. If he is wise, the national 
leader will come to understand that, if there is to be set 
up a bond of relationship between him and the little 
nucleus of converts growing into a church, the way of 
efficiency, the way of power, is the way of the cross. It 
was no accident nor mere incident that the Master de- 
clared, ‘‘ He that will save his life must lose it.” It is a 
great paradox, but it is true, that what supremely counts 
in leadership is not position or pay or power, but the spirit 
of service and sacrifice. “’The Son of Man came not to 
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a 
ransom for many.” 

The missionary, for his part, must not only partake of 
the spirit of Christ, but as a high art of service seek to 
show it forth. He’should often think through afresh 
what his relationship is to the national, and to the national 
churches, and ask himself anew, to make assurance doubly 


IN CONCLUSION 285 


sure, if he is really willing that he should decrease, while 
“they increase. “ Noblesse oblige” will be his rule. He 
has come to show forth the spirit of a great Master. 
Matters of nationality he will say and think little about. 
Any social distinction involved in the daily routine of 
association he will avoid as he would a dangerous scourge. 
Even when it is easier for him to do a service, and he is 
quite sure that he can do it best, he will often give place 
to his national brother worker, who may through the 
doing of it develop his powers of leadership. ‘The foreign 
worker will nobly reflect that his relationship is not simply 
to his Board and Church at home, nor simply to the 
national leader, but through that leader, to the rising 
Church. He will realize that however earnest he may be, 
and with whatever personal skill he may be able to do his 
work, if he has not been able to live his life into that of 
the national worker in such a way as to bring that worker 
to the place of genuine leadership of his people, then his 
work has largely failed. 

So often has it been said that the foreign worker must 
decrease, while the national increases, that the good word, 
Scriptural though it be, seems trite and commonplace. 
But there is no other way. The missionary, if he would 
find his life in his relationship to the indigenous Church, 
must lose it. In the day’s service, in all his relationships 
involving appointment, place, pay and policy, in an infi- 
nite variety of human situations and relationships, he will 
confidently and cheerfully follow his Lord’s injunction, 
and go with his brother national “the second mile.” 


VII. IN ConcLusIon. 


The Commission has now concluded its survey. It has 
opened up the various topics and sub-topics presented in 
the program, and now offers them to the Congress for 
further discussion. It has enunciated basic principles that 
should guide all work of organization and it has suggested 
plans that should not only tend to avoid friction and mis- 
understanding, but should also make for the smoother 
functioning of missionary machinery. 

In conclusion, it desires to place all emphasis on the 
need of constant watchfulness and prayer. No set of 


286 RELATIONSHIPS 


principles, however sound and wise, and no merely human 
plans and methods, however perfect and workable, will 
ever take the place of those gentle, considerate and win- 
some graces of spirit that adorned the character of Him 
whose we are and whom we seek and profess to serve. 


“wy 





DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 
J. PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT. 


PRESIDENT W. A. WappE.LL, D.D. 


There are five stages in missionary history which should 
be enumerated. (1) The era before missionary work is 
started. There may be some who are interested in the life 
of the spirit and seek some clear spiritual goal, but they are 
relatively unknown and unorganized. (2) The period when 
the missionary enters a land, discovers some of these seekers 
after the life of the spirit, adds to their number, and organ- 
izes a small group of serious Christians. (3) The coming of 
missionaries in large numbers, too many for the earlier, inti- 
mate contacts and fellowships. (4) The organization in 
every direction of churches and their union into one or more 
groups, growingly independent and self-sustaining. (5) The 
era when missionaries can be withdrawn altogether, the 
work of evangelization and of cultivation being left to the 
nationals, 

The hardest of these periods is the third, when expansion 
has begun. How long that period should last is not easily 
determined. There comes a time when, because of the very 
multitude of missionaries, the nationals fear that the era of 
independence will never come. At the outset, the missionary 
is responsible for the management of all details. Eventually 
the fear arises among the nationals that the missionary plans 
to denationalize the Evangelical church members. However 
untrue this may be, it must be reckoned with. 

One of the greatest difficulties in relationship arises be- 
cause many missionaries come to South America with no 
practical experience gained by church work in the United 
States. Working in a strange environment, such a mission- 
_ ary is very liable to make serious blunders. Especially he is 
liable to try to control matters with which he has no real 
concern, and which can be better handled by the nationals 
themselves. 

How are such difficulties to be met with wisdom? Obvi- 
ously, by turning the work over as rapidly as possible to 
nationals who wiil assume the responsibility for evangelizing 
their own land. The national church has every right to 


287 


288 RELATIONSHIPS 


govern itself as soon as it is able to support itself. How- 
ever, new missionaries should be urged to study carefully the 
history, social customs and peculiarities of the people to 
which they are going. Those who get into difficulty should 
study the way in which other countries have solved similar 
difficulties. ‘This means the study of missionary history and 
biography. It may be said, however, in all assurance, that, 
generally speaking, there is nothing but good feeling between 
missionaries and nationals. 


II. MISSIONARIES AND NATIONALS. 


Dr. Orts Gonzales, of New York, declared as one who 
was a missionary in Cuba and is now living in: New York, 
that he could testify a real change has taken place in 
the attitude of our mission Boards. National churches are 
being encouraged to assume more and more responsibility 
for their own affairs. Boards sincerely desire that this shall 
happen, being anxious at the same time to be assured that 
the nationals have developed qualities adequate to carry 
these responsibilities. Most missionaries look upon their 
work as having a temporary quality so far as their own 
share in it is concerned. They do not intend to assume an 
attitude of superiority. They are fathers, but they know 
that their children will soon grow up and take their place. 

The supreme duty of the national is to declare the truth 
as he sees it. He is neither a dependent nor a slave, but an 
equal. A good North American loves the truth and admires 
one who speaks it unflinchingly. When a missionary is 
headed some wrong way, let the nationals tell him so, even 
if he is a senior secretary or an archbishop. Candidness, 
frankness and outspoken sincerity are desirable. 


Professor Charles A. Long, of Granbery College, Juiz de 
Fora, Brazil, stated seven principles of relationship in which 
he fervently believed and in accordance with which he tried 
to act. (1) That,in every action, one should show the love 
of Christ. (2) That the whole purpose of working with 
nationals is to give service. (3) That the missionary is a 
learner as well as a teacher. The wisest man may learn from 
the most ignorant. (4) That the missionary should discover 
and work in accordance with the national point of view. 
(5) That the missionary should speak frankly, in a spirit of 
kindness and love, his real judgment about things. (6) That 
the missionary should study along with the nationals the 
solution of problems as they arise; and (7) That the mis- 
sionary should always bear in mind his ultimate withdrawal 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 289 


and the full control of the affairs of the church by nationals. 
Thus he will surely plan to get them gradually under the 
burdens of the church. 

There are some missionaries who seem to fear that, be-. 
cause of the growing national spirit, missionaries will no 
longer be desired in South America. However, at the an- 
nual conference of Methodist Churches in Brazil, every dis- 
trict called for more missionaries, the nationals doing the 
asking. Relations in each section are very friendly and satis- 
fying. Most missionaries will hail the day when the nation- 
als will get under the whole load of the Evangelical Church 
and become entirely responsible for Christian work in Brazil. 


Ill. Tue Gorpen Rute. 


Rev. Oswaldo Silva, of Piracicaba, Brazil, (M. E. So.) felt 
that a good rule in reciprocity was the golden rule. It makes 
a golden key to all difficulties between foreign and national 
workers. How is it to be applied to the problems before us? 
(1) Through reciprocity in every matter. Work that is done 
on every side should be generously recognized. There is still 
too little mutual friendly recognition. (2) By causing much 
offensive criticism to cease. Carping criticism can ruin any 
plan of cooperation. Undoubtedly, most nationals, because 
of their limited experience, need frequent criticism, but it 
should be given in kindly fashion, with a view of assistance 
toward growth. (3) By fidelity to the program of the 
Church, of Christ.. ) Here there. is. often a; difference: of 
Opinion between nationals and Christians as to the emphasis 
to be laid on either or all of the sections of the three-fold 
program—evangelism, education, and benevolence. The 
nationals must eventually take up all these responsibilities, 
but there may be a difference of judgment in regard to the 
order in which they are adopted. 


Rev. Alberto Tallon, of Buenos Aires, agreed with Mr. 
Silva regarding these conditions. In his opinion, the rela- 
tions of nationals and missionaries in the Argentina Method- 
ist Episcopal Conference can not be more cordial than they 
are, for all are brethren. 

The most irksome element in past years in the relations 
between missionaries and nationals has been the assumption 
of superiority on the part of the missionaries. Consequently, 
there are a few nationals today who think that the churches 
need no more missionaries except to manage special tasks 
for which nationals are not prepared. . Mr. Tallon was 
among the first to ask that nationals be given responsibility. 


290 RELATIONSHIPS 


When that request was made to Bishop Stuntz, a leading 
missionary protested, expressing a considerable lack of con- 
fidence in the nationals. Bishop Oldham has altered these 
impressions. He understands and trusts the nationals. In 
this he is wise, because the national minister is, after all, the 
force which must carry the bulk of the work of evangeliza- 
tion. Our fathers were pioneers, but there is plenty of 
pioneering work yet to be done. 


IV. THE Conprrions oF BroTHERLINESS. 


President G. F. Arms, of the Union Bible Seminary, Santi- 
ago, Chile, wished to contribute to the discussion out of his 
thirty years of experience. He said that when he went to 
Chile there were only two churches in existence. He planned 
to be a brother to the nationals in such a way that they would 
forget that he was a missionary. He discovered that the way 
to accomplish this was to forget that they were nationals. 
Chileans do not fail in the matter of sacrifice. They readily 
follow one whom they regard to be a real leader. The closer 
the missionary can get to his people, even in the matter of 
clothing, living, and table and house furnishing, the closer 
these relationships can be. 


Sr. E. Moura, of the American Bible Society in Brazil, 
declared that nationals in Brazil are quite ready to ask for 
more missionaries rather than for less, perhaps in part 
because all seem to be on the same brotherly footing. The 
appreciation of the nationals for the older missionaries and 
all that they did is very keen. Every national knows who 
they were and what they did. They brought a pure gospel 
which all value, the old time religion which they rooted so 
thoroughly in Brazil that nationalism does not make much 
impression on the churches. 


V. THE CLostInc SUMMARY. 
Rev. J. C. Gattrnont, of Buenos Atrts (M. E.). 


There is objection to the use of the word “ indigenous ”’; 
“national” is the better adjective. It would be wholly un- 
true to say that, in the opinion of the average national 
Christian, no more missionaries are desired. Many, how- 
ever, who favor the continued coming of missionaries might 
urge that their principal purpose in the future should be the 
proper training of nationals to assume responsibility. Such 
responsibility should be steadily assumed by nationals. For 
instance, in the Central Congress of the Methodist Episcopal 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 291 


Churches, nationals and missionaries should share equally in 
filling positions of responsibility. This has not taken place, 
partly because of a fear that nationals would not be able to 
carry the responsibilities adequately. Where nationals have 
assumed responsibility, however, they have measured up to 
it. There are quite often missionaries who are more or less 
unsuccessful. 

The Report which we are considering makes various sug- 
gestions. On page 252(c) it suggests that missionaries 
become members of the national churches. This is a profit- 
able suggestion. Where union English-speaking churches 
exist, the missionaries, at least those doing educational work, 
rarely attend the national churches. Of course, the union 
church is more homelike to them. On the other hand, a 
missionary is supposed to be out in the field for the doing 
of good. 

On page 261 is a suggestion that more responsible posi- 
tions be given the nationals. In the Methodist district of 
Argentina, out of the group which helps the Bishop fill the 
pulpits, four are nationals and one is a missionary, but this 
missionary is an Argentine at heart. This seems like real 
progress. We look forward to the time when a national 
will become the bishop of the Spanish-speaking churches. 

In the matter of salaries, there seems such a difference 
between nationals and missionaries as to set them apart 
rather than to draw them together. A pastor with a family 
of four to support may get 120 pesos a month, where the 
missionary receives $120.00 gold a month, But all such 
differences are being slowly and wisely adjusted. 

In the interest of proper relationships the suggestion may 
be repeated that missionaries should carefully study their par- 
ticular mission fields and their ways. We heard recently of 
a very embarrassing experience in one of our churches, due 
entirely to the inexperience and ignorance of a new mission- 
ary. This young lady actually insisted upon continuing cer- 
tain North American customs which to the nationals of her 
vicinity seemed almost immoral. Of course they were not so, 
yet it will be very difficult for that missionary to receive the 
full confidence of her people for years to come. 


THE FINDINGS 


1. Some of the difficulties which at times have arisen be- 
tween national and foreign workers have been the conse- 
quence of early missionary inexperience on the part of both 
foreigner and nationals. As regards new missionaries com- 
ing to the field today, this situation may be largely avoided 
by means of instruction given to new missionaries before and 
after reaching their fields of work. ‘Toward this end we 
recommend: 

(1) That the appointments for any field be made with 
sufficient antecedence for the due preparation of the 
missionaries. 

(2) That the missionaries begin, in their own country, 
courses of general phonetics and the geography, his- 
tory and psychology of their respective fields. 

(3) That the first year on the field be spent in the study 
of the vernacular, preferably in some language school 
where there are associated courses. Particular atten- 
tion must be paid to the history, traditions and geog- 
raphy of the country. Where there is no such school, 
the new missionary should devote himself especially 
to a careful study of the language. 

(4) That great care be taken to send out to mission fields’ 
men and women who shall be able to adapt themselves 
to the circumstances of the place and the temperament 
of the people. 

2. The “modus operandi” adopted by the Missions and 
the Presbyterian Church of Brazil gives a solution for all 
cases in which the organization is national and complete as 
to its autonomy. 

3. For the churches which prefer the regimen of foreign 
connection, the plan of cooperation that has been adopted by 
the Methodist Episcopal Boards seems desirable and work- 
able; however, all consideration should be given to the na- 
tional workers within the limits of this plan. 

4. The contributions given by the Missions toward the 
national work should not be given directly to the individual 
national worker, but to the national church or to the highest 
financial authority responsible for the work. 


292 


THE REPORT OF COMMISSION ELEVEN 
ON 
SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 
IN SOUTH AMERICA 


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Contents 


BEAEN CRODUCTOR Ute di8 dats Sat he ais «tes otalitce na IER 299 
II, Tue ProsiemM oF Racrtat, COMPREHENSION....... 300 
Routh HA Mee CAG FAITS: Jorn nde hie alare'eie 4 wn oie 301 
Palle SOANISU IDNETIEALICES otcw as 0's vis ses sla ipiec earn 302 
(b) Tendency to Fatalism or Nonchalance.... 304 
Coy) Cultural Apmanisany sia fos hs iene 305 
Cd) U New: BActonsutcy seu etal vse sale alist ols ote 307 
III. THe PropiemM of CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS Con- 


IV. 


SUIDUSNESS FO. . ZEDONG Oa oe 309 


1, Roman Catholic Traditionalism ............. 310 
2Religious Skepticisti.: Sone i. LO ews et 313 
(a) Hostility Towards Religion ............ 313 
(b) Indifference Towards Religion ......... 314 
3. Nascent’ Reliztous Interest (00/0040 ee ce eee 317 
(a)"-Intellectual Interest). 2G ae da RL 
Ch MSpiritualsincterest) (es 5. vos aie ae 320 


THE PROBLEM OF THE RomMAN CatTHOLIC CHURCH. 324 
1. The Distinguishing Features of Spanish and 
South American Catholicism and Its Mission- 


ANY VRCEOEC hah occ eS 4)c ale ale 5 Serta eo ete ae 324 
2. Present Status of the Roman Catholic Church 
TRROOMUN  PAINOTICA Me's 25 4s ae an, eee eae 329 
(ajystts-Intellectual’Status-.. Sater c.): vas). 329 
(halts Socials Status... 25 eae eee 332 
(omits Political Statys i. yw 4 i Mommerta ual. eerlg a 334 
(1) The Church is the Ally of Reaction- 
atv Governments US UHOee ie), vis be oie 335 


(2) Clerical Influence Tends to Neutral- 
ize Liberal Tendencies and Violates 
the Spirit of National Constitutions. 336 
(3) A Strong Effort is Being Made by 
the Vatican to Bring About a Closer 
Rapprochement Between the Papacy 
and South American Governments... 337 


295 


296 CONTENTS 


(d)idits\Relistous vetatts Vices ee ee oes 340 
(1) tsi ppeatte thes Senses, 28am oie 341 
(2) ALES WERDER EO WTI a te lyn arte onan 341 
(2) ts Xp peal LOC Gat vote itd cian eure 341 
(4) Its Appeal to Spiritual Indolence.... 342 
(5) Its Appeal to the Natural Religious 
ANStITECES TOT IVE AI Fla san ge) sy pene 342 
(6) Its Strong Appeal by Reason of Its 
Fidelity to the Great Body of Chris- 
tian Truth to Which All Christen- 
dom, PPolds! yds seutaden, Mid oi 342 
(7) The Appeal’ Which Inheres in the 
_ Antiquity and Supposed Unity of the 
Roman. Ghurchowan, Wa UD 343 
3. The Attitude of the Roman Church Towards 
the Evangelical Movement in South America... 343 
(a) The Roman Church is Officially Cognizant 


of the Evangelical Movemient.....:)..4... 343 
(b) The Roman Church is Markedly Hostile 

to the; Mavement ...,'\'. a: Me hivedd «dive ante 344 
(c) The Roman Church is Everywhere Paral- 

leling Evangelical Methods............. 346 


4. The Attitude of the Evangelical Missionary 
_ Movement. Towards: the Roman Catholic 


Cir ch yh Vie eras ant rict bois BE RRM Yas: 347 
(a) \ The Attitude om blostility oir) ola 347 
(b) A Desire to Reform Catholicism......:. 348 
(c) The Pursuit of a Constructive, Independ- 
Cnt POMGH eta ric els «is « clog eeamele prema e see 349 
V. Tue Proprem oF Minor ReEvicious INFLUENCES. 349 
Ti NEOSODIY | i, ian ubeen Wis oket to, eaten alg) dias eran as 350 
2 eo PIT LISTS ip cis Ure eM LTRS dso ton teee sae SSR nen 353 
2) Positivisn 0). 0 GuamMaito, +n 4id eS eee A ne 355 
4. The Attitude of Evangelical Christianity ‘To- 
ward Theses cpenets,!y «sata ose as Ween cae 357 
(ae Owarduneosoph ys .eak., eee eee 357 
(D iw GWardtS Bens cy 0s vo sameeren 357 
(G) tahowatd ‘Postavismuany ss 2. yea oies 358 
VI. Tue PropiemM of EVANGELICAL WorK AND Proc- 
BESS) sult avarargeel. wba Out Tweens 359 
1, Protestantism in Other Latin Countries....... 359 


2. Criticisms of Evangelical Missions in South 
PITVOT ICA ie Ie baer ne chia slolly lok ee sagt ean cea 359 


CONTENTS 297 


(a) The Evangelical Movement as an Angli- 


SIMU LOM OLIEIIE Pe ye; «styl ph wile ce « Sars tal yiere 359 

[Dy abn Miata POSE ate halo Voc ia ussueuam eee 360 

(Ci LAmnAneMeiOtisy Aur esi: 1 4 seh tek antes. cole 361 

3. The Basic Conditions of Evangelical Progress. 365 

LX) RPE TODO HSDITIE ty ayia 0 enw tet tates 365 

(b) An Adequate Embodiment............... 367 

Are LI SCU GSI ONG OF TOE AGREE TY (0): 5hsheis of! sis 'ssis omaha whe 369 
ee eee 4 ENDINGS i peau ra. Wiis Sees dog's Adee aa calle 376 


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SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS IN 
SOUTH AMERICA 


I. INTRODUCTORY 


In the preparation of this Report the Commission has 
kept before it a threefold aim: (1) To analyze and de- 
scribe the most characteristic features of the South 
American mind, to investigate its present-day tendencies 
and to consider them in relation to the general religious 
problem. (2) To study the main forces of a spiritual 
order which dispute the headship of Jesus Christ in the 
life of South America. (3) To offer solutions and sug- 
gestions whereby the problems created by these contrary 
forces may most adequately be dealt with and whereby 
the transforming power of Christ may be brought into 
most effective contact with the streams of individual and 
national life. 

The scope of the Report is thus limited to the spiritual, 
taking that word in its broadest acceptation. An attempt 
is made to study those spiritual forces which have 
moulded, are moulding or aspire to mould the soul life of 
the people. ‘These are studied, on the one hand, as the 
product of hereditary and cultural influences, and, on the 
other, as the battleground where rival powers dispute the 
mastery of the springs of life. 

Five main problems or groups of problems are dealt 
with, namely, 

1. The Problem of Racial Comprehension. 

2. The Problem of Contemporary Religious Con- 
SCLOUSNESS. 

3. The Problem of the Roman Catholic Church as 
the dominant religious influence in South 
American life. 

4. The Problem of Minor Religious Forces. 

5. The Problem of Evangelical Work and Progress. 

In presenting this Report to the Congress, the Commis- 


299 


300 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


sion is very much aware of its inadequacy in certain direc- 
tions. It believes, however, that in other directions the 
Report has broken new ground. Its labors will be amply 
rewarded, if it has succeeded in presenting in a new per- 
spective the spiritual problems and tasks of Evangelical 
Christianity in South America, and shall contribute 
thereby to a more intelligent intensification of missionary 
activity. 


Il. Tur PropuEM oF RACIAL COMPREHENSION. 


This is no merely academic problem, nor should what 
follows be regarded as a mere prolegomena to a sociolog- 
ical study of South America. The first great step towards 
exercising a spiritual influence upon a people is to under- 
stand its life. It has the right to expect that foreign 
evangelists will, at least, take the trouble to know that 
life, if it were only for the sake of courtesy. As a mat- 
ter of fact, it is of first rate practical importance for the 
fulfillment of the spiritual task in which missionaries are 
engaged that they should have an adequate and sympa- 
thetic comprehension of the people who are the object of 
their solicitude. 

South Americans are becoming increasingly sensitive 
about what they. regard as the inveterate incomprehension 
of missionaries. As an example, we take the statement 
of an eminent South American Christian, signing himself 
“An Unattaclied Christian Worker,” who has expressed 
his views on the problems discussed by this Commission. 
This gentleman says: 


“The directorates of missionary Associations who send 
evangelizers to Latin America, are composed of people who 
do not know, nor appear to have any special desire to know, 
these countries; while the missionaries who are sent here, are 
persons who never become imbued with the environment, or if 
they do, are not disposed to fall out with their directorates.” 


This indictment is unfortunately true to a most un- 
happy extent, and yet, how obvious are the advantages to 
the missionary of a true comprehension of the people 
among whom he labors. It gives him a more intelligent 


PROBLEM OF RACIAL COMPREHENSION 301 


appreciation of his task; it awakens in his heart a greater 
sympathy with the people, and opens new doors of access 
to their affections; it imbues him with a new prophetic 
sense, and provides him with an antidote against discour- 
agement and disappointment in his work. How often is a 
missionary, especially a young missionary, almost driven 
to despair when baftled by what appears to him nothing 
more than a caprice in the members of the group among 
whom he works! How much it would contribute to calm 
his spirit and give him a fresh start, did he realize that 
the cause of his trouble was no mere individual caprice, 
but a national or racial trait! It was said of the founder 
of the missionary enterprise that “ He knew what was in 
man,” and that knowledge was one of the things that kept 
His spirit unruffled. 


1. South American Traits. 


We venture to analyze in the following pages the racial 
inheritance and cultural influences that have produced 
South American character. Such a study is obviously one 
of extreme delicacy, attempted, as it has been, by a Com- 
mission composed chiefly of foreigners, who voice their 
conclusions in the Athens of South America. Let it be 
clearly understood, however, that this analysis is not 
undertaken in any spirit of superiority or of censorious- 
ness. It is concerned with the statement of facts, not with 
the passing of judgments. It is animated by a passionate 
love for the Iberian peoples, in all the branches of their 
ethnic dispersion and in all the phases of their spiritual 
pilgrimage, It is based, moreover, upon the writings of 
leading Spanish, Portuguese and South American authors, 
so that little more is done than to voice the opinions of 
those writers about their kindred. 

It is worth while observing, in this connection, that 
modern Spanish and South American writers are much 
more introspective than are Anglo-Saxons. There exists 
a great wealth of literature devoted to self-analysis. ‘This 
is a phenomenon to which British and Americans are not 
so accustomed, for, hitherto, neither of the two great 
branches of the English-speaking family has been particu- 
larly interested in analyzing its personal traits. The chief 


302 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


authorities who have been drawn upon for the character 
analysis which follows are: the Portuguese historian, 
Oliveira Martins; the Spanish “ littérateur,’ Miguel de 
Unamuno, and Carlos Octavio Bunge, the Argentine 
sociologist. 

(a) Spanish inheritance.—Bunge, in his work, Nuestra 
America (Our America), which the noted Argentine 
thinker, Jose Ingenieros, considers one of the greatest 
books on South American sociology ever published, re- 
gards the fundamental trait in Iberian South American _ 
character to be what he calls “la arrogancgeespanola” ew) 
(Spanish arrogance). All other traits he regards as a 
modification or effect of this primary quality. ‘The classic 
arrogance or haughtiness of the Spanish race is shown in 
a great many ways. It is characterized by an extreme 
individualism, egoism or selfishness. Sometimes it takes 
the form of idealistic aspirings; sometimes that of ma- 
terialistic grovellings. Its two aspects are symbolized by 
Don Quixote and Sancho, and give rise to many apparent 
contradictions throughout Spanish history and literature. 
It might be said that the history of the Spanish soul is a 
noted case of dual personality on a national scale. 

We find this arrogance illustrated first in the military 
and colonial history of Spain. In the romances which 
treat of the exploits of that legendary warrior El Cid, one 
of the chief goals of endeavor is always “el botin” (the 
booty). The famous pact of Panama, between the war- 
riors, Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro and the 
priest Luque, centers in the quest for gold. The conquest 
of Peru, just as the conquest of Mexico before it, origi- 
nated in the selfish search for booty. Later, when the 
administration of her conquered territories devolved upon 
imperial Spain, the latter initiated a policy which has well 
been called one of “anarchic justice.’ There can be no 
doubt but that Spain made a serious effort to benefit her 
colonies, but she did so in accordance with that haughti- 
ness inherent in the national character, refusing to take 
into account the legitimate desires of the governed, upon 
whom she imposed her own abstract conceptions of 
justice. | 

The individualism of Spanish character is nowhere bet- 


PROBLEM OF RACIAL COMPREHENSION 3038 


ter exemplified than, secondly, in the great mystics of the 
sixteenth century. Spanish mysticism found its culminat- 
ing expression in St. John of the Cross. The mystical 
ideal of St. John is not to be lost in God, but to possess 
God, to absorb the deity into oneself. This is reached by 
a long preparatory process in which the self passes 
through a dark night on its way to the summit of 
“Mt. Carmel,” becoming emptied of every thought and 
feeling related to earth, and thereafter, not as a result of 
meditation nor of any discursive mental process, but by a 
pure act of contemplation, sees God, loves Him and pos- 
sesses Him. ‘The end is reached by submissive obedience 
to the Church. Unamuno, in his penetrating analysis of 
Spanish mysticism, makes a comparison between St. 
Theresa and St. Francis of Assisi which throws a flood of 
light upon the intense individualism of Spanish religious 
genius. He says: 


“St. Francis does not shut himself up in his interior castle, 
but revels in the smiling and joyous countryside, delighting 
in God’s air and sun. He scarcely concerns himself about 
converting heretics. His religion is one of the heart, and of 
human kindness. The stigmas of Francis are the Italian reli- 
gious symbol, marks of crucifixion in redeeming one’s neigh- 
bours. The Castillian symbol is the transfixion of the heart 
of Theresa, the arrow of the Bridegroom whose communion 
she enjoyed in solitude.” 4 


The trait which we are discussing becomes further ap- 
parent in the fanaticism of Spanish religion. As a result 
of the wars with the Moors which culminated in the con- 
quest of Granada, and especially as a consequence of the 
Spanish Inquisition, there was formed in the national 
spirit a passion for uniformity. The political ideal became 
identified with the religious. To differ from one of the 
established dogmas of the faith was regarded as a political 
crime and punished as an act of treason. In this the early 
individualistic arrogance of the Iberian race became trans- 
formed into national and religious arrogance. The Span- 


1 Fl Torno al Cossticismo, p. 64. 


804 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


ish nation regarded itself as the Lord’s Anointed to 
impose the Catholic faith upon mankind. 

The men who played the greatest part in the Catholici- 
zation of South America were members of the militarist 
orders of Jesuits and Dominicans. 

Spanish secular literature provides another illustration 
of the trait which we are studying. oman letters en- 
tered upon a new era when the Spaniards Seneca, Martial, 
Quintilian and others of their countrymen began to write 
in the language of the metropolis. The work of these 
writers is marked by a declamatory style, high-sounding 
words and far-fetched ideas—classic qualities of repre- 
sentative Spanish literature. ‘Typical Spanish style is in- 
flated, verbose, involved, often labored. 

The native self-assertion due to Iberian ancestry is 
manifested in a number of ways in South American life. 
We find it in a certain lack of social cohesion and mutual 
confidence, in an apparent lack of modesty, in the em- 
phasis on the principle of protest, in the classic code of 
“honor.” It appears in the natural dislike to confess 
mistakes, in a distaste for the laborious work necessary 
to achieve ends, in the tendency to anticipate conclusions 
and to rest satisfied with outward appearances. 

The same principle manifests itself in what we might 
call the personal-mindedness of South Americans. Per- 
sonalities are more potent than principles. ‘The latter are 
‘often not the fruit of experience or or reflection, but of 
imitation, and, in their application, are relative to person- 
alities. ‘Thus many constitutions are perfect in conception 
though they may be violated in practice. The eminent 
Argentine publicist, Augustin Alvarez, has an article en- 
titled Leyes Perfectas y Costumbres Pestmas (Perfect 
laws and shocking customs). In practice everything 
tends to yield before the exigencies and self-assertion of 
individuals who are bold enough to impose their own will. 

(b) Tendency to fatalism or nonchalance-—South 
American descendants of Iberian and Indian forbears 
reveal in strange synthesis a sombre sense of inevitability 
and submission to fate and a careless happy-go-luckiness. 
There is in their character a fusion of the spirit of the 
Indian cacique and the Spanish hidalgo, of the imagina- 





PROBLEM OF RACIAL COMPREHENSION 305 


tion that created the Messianic figure of Manco Capac and. 
the mentality that revelled in the “literatura picaresca ” of 
the seventeenth century. ‘This particular trait reveals it- 
self in a number of popular institutions, attitudes and 
phrases. Take, as an example, the attitude of the masses 
towards dictators. After a leader has repeatedly over- 
come opposition and it appears he has come to stay, his 
figure catches the popular imagination. The people in 
general bow to the inevitable and make no effort to achieve 
a constitutional change. There is in many quarters 
throughout the continent a pessimistic acceptance of 
things as they are. This we find in such current phrases 
as “ Aqui esto no se puede hacer” (Here this cannot be 
done), or “Esto no prende aqui” (This does not take 
here). : 

It must be added, however, that in recent years, es- 
pecially since the end of the war, a remarkable change 
has taken place. South American thinkers and scientists 
have discovered a new confidence in their own powers. 
Europe has lost a great deal of its traditional prestige and 
South American intellectuals have taken themselves out 
of their classic sense of inferiority, and have the feeling 
that in some spheres of life and thought, they are even 
called upon to give the world a lead. This is particularly 
the case in the realm of international politics. "The new 
spirit is an echo of Bolivar’s famous saying: “If Nature 
opposes we will fight Nature and will conquer her.” 
There is a new sense of the glorious destiny that awaits 
America. Narrow nationalism gives place to internation- 
alism; Pan-Americanism to Pan-Iberianism. To the 
dictum of North American politicians ‘‘ America for the 
Americans,” South America replies ‘“ America for 
Humanity.” 

(c) Cultural humanism.—Educated South Americans 
are true modern representatives of Hellenic culture, both 
in its form and in its content. The Hellenism of 
South American culture is partly due to racial factors 
and is partly the product of an education inspired 
chiefly by French models steeped in the humanism of the 
Renaissance. 

As regards the ractal factor, it is worth while observing 


306 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


that throughout Iberian history there appears no true 
_ sense of sin. According to both Unamuno and Bunge, 
Christianity, in its Roman Catholic form, never succeeded 
in awakening a consciousness of sin as moral evil in the 
Iberian race. ‘These thinkers maintain that the Iberian 
spirit was naturally anti-Christian and that no Christian 
influence has ever modified it. This trait is of importance 
when one comes to judge the very different outlook of 
South Americans on fundamental moral problems from 
that which characterizes Anglo-Saxons in general. The 
ancient Iberian feared death and punishment, but was not 
concerned about sin as an active moral principle. The 
phenomenon of an “awakened conscience ” with its haunt- 
ing sense of sin, has not the prominence in the religious 
literature of Spain and South America that it has in the 
religious literature of Protestant countries. 

Graeco-Roman influence upon peninsular life is another 
of the racial factors that has informed South American 
humanism. ‘To this influence is due the essential Latinity 
of educated people. Two Latin traits are specially 
‘ marked; one is a keen juristic mentality, and the other a 
highly developed zsthetic sense. The former of these 
accounts for the greater importance which South Ameri- 
cans attach to exhaustive constitutions and codes. Law 
and right in South America are essentially a priori; in 
the Anglo-Saxon world they are largely empirical. The 
second trait mentioned reveals itself in the much more 
refined artistic taste of the average South American com- 
pared with the average Anglo-Saxon. ‘This accounts for 
his unresponsive attitude towards the ordinary Protestant 
service and the tedium with which he listens to the ordi- 
nary missionary appeal. Protestant worship and Prot- 
estant missionary sermons offend his zsthetic taste. His 
dislike of the form makes him prejudiced towards the 
substance. 

French culture has been the chief exotic influence that 
has moulded South American thought. For the last hun- 
dred years, that is, since South American countries won 
their independence, French institutions, French education 
and French literature have left a profound impress upon 
the life and culture of the whole continent. Paris, not 


PROBLEM OF RACIAL COMPREHENSION 3807 


Madrid, is the Mecca of educated South Americans. 
They look to France for spiritual leadership. 

One of the characteristics of humanism here in its 
moral and social aspects is its lenient attitude towards 
sexual immorality. The figure of Don Juan Tenorio, the 
libertine hero of a comedy of the Spanish poet Zorilla, has 
impressed itself upon the popular imagination both in 
Spain and South America. There is a widely diffused 
popular philosophy which justifies the “sowing of wild 
oats” in youth.’ Public opinion draws a clear-cut dis- 
tinction between private and public conduct, and with the 
former it practically refuses to concern itself. 

(d) New factors—None have been more conscious 
than candid South American thinkers that the classic 
traits of their race have not been constructive factors in 
social and religious progress. But no one can write about 
South American character without stating that new traits 
of a highly dynamic and idealistic order are making their 
appearance. ‘These traits have appeared so far only in 
select spirits and groups, but they are surely destined to 
make their presence felt among the masses in the next 
generation. Whoever would influence spiritual life on 
this continent should understand and appreciate the new 
forces that are operating. These are: a new human pas- 
sion, a new sense of destiny, and a new intellectualism. 

A new human passion has made its appearance within 
recent years, particularly among the student class. The 
traditional absorption of students in pettifogging politics, 
in scholastic hair-splitting, in the enervating indolence and 
artificiality of social functions is giving place to new inter- 
ests. Says a leading Peruvian student in an article 
specially written for this Report: 


“The students of Peruvian universities no longer while 
away their leisure moments in useless conversation in cafés 
or in empty gossip with the inmates of sensual saloons . . 
they prefer more energetic expressions of life. The firm 
tumultuous notes of Wagner suit their taste better than the 
delicate and sentimental notes of Schubert. The students of 
the present hour have a loftier and less egoistic concept of 
duty. They realize that they have a noble and immediate 


308 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


social mission to fulfill... . They are not indifferent to the 
cry of the people who drag out a miserable existence.” 


In a recent article entitled ‘‘ Student Renaissance in 
South America,” the writer says: 


“The first characteristic of the new student generation in 
South America is that it is less intellectualistic and more hu- 
man than its predecessors. Purely academic problems create 
little enthusiasm. ‘The traditional oracles are dumb. The 
writers who awaken a response are men of human passion, 
men in whose writings intellect serves the heart, in whom 
enthusiasm for humanity and social justice predominates. 
The Spanish prophet Miguel de Unamuno, Anatole France, 
Henry Barbusse, Romain Rolland, H. G. Wells, Tolstoy, 
these are some of the men by whom the new generation 
swears. Occasionally the prophets of Israel are quoted in 
student magazines as champions of social justice in their day. 
More frequently will one find citations from the gospels, par- 
ticularly those passages in which the Master utters His fiery 
denunciations against hypocrites and oppressors.” ? 


These young men and the great masses of workmen 
with whom they are in contact and whose spiritual leaders 
they are, are strong internationalists, are opposed to mili- 
tarism and refuse to have anything to do with professional 
politicians. 

If the new movement continues and gathers strength 
we may witness in the future, under the impulse of a new 
ideal, the modification of the traditional arrogance and 
individualism of the race. 

Reference was made at the close of section (b) on page 
305 to the recent appearance of an impressive sense 
of destiny. ‘The debacle in European affairs and the dis- 
cordant solutions offered to remedy the existing chaos, 
have produced a new sense of responsibility in the young 
republics of South America. The sickness and agonizing . 
cries of parents upon whom they depended so entirely for 
intellectual sustenance and guidance, have turned the 


2 The Student World, April, 1924. 





RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS 309 


thoughts of the children into new channels and opened 
their eyes to behold new horizons. Europe is sinking! 
America is the hope of the world! If so, she must put 
her house in order to be worthy of her providential mis- 
sion. Thus a new sense of destiny and a concomitant 
sense of responsibility are being created. 

Closely connected with the foregoing is the appearance 
of a new intellectualism which revolts against the tradi- + 
tional Hellenism of intellectual life on this continent. ‘The 
champions of this new mental attitude proclaim that intel- 
lectuals should not. be simple spectators of life’s drama, . 
but actors in it. They should live their lives not among 
the monuments which commemorate the past, but amid 
the thoughts and events which will determine the future. 
They should be prophets of glories to come and not priests 
of glories spent. ‘“‘ The philosophers,” as Plato puts it, 
“must become kings’; they must apply their theorizing 
to the solution of living problems. 

One of the leaders of the new crusade is José Inge- 
nieros, whose monthly newspaper Renovacion may be re- 
garded as the chief articulate expression of this new 
attitude towards life. Another leader, and perhaps the 
most dynamic of all, is José Vasconcelos, later Minister 
of Public Instruction in Mexico. Although a Mexican, 
Vasconcelos exercises enormous influence on the new 
generation in South America. The students of Colombia 
and Peru have proclaimed him “ Master of Youth.”’, The 
discourses of Vasconcelos are the Magna Charta of a new 
idealism for men of thought and letters. Inspired by the 
principles of Jesus and using language of a strong Bib-— 
lical flavor, this Latin-American prophet opens new vistas 
of worthy endeavor before the educated youth of the 
continent. 


Ill. Tur Propuem oF CoNTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS 
CONSCIOUSNESS. 


Having dealt with the general psychology of South 
American character, we now turn to the specifically relig- 
ious consciousness of the people. This we shall also en- 
deavor to analyze into its constituent elements. In dealing 
with the subject, we shall consider only those manifesta- 


310 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


tions of the religious consciousness which are found out- 
side the pale of the Evangelical churches. The problem 
connected with Evangelical religion in South America will 
be dealt with in the last chapter. 

As a prelude to the discussion, we quote the words of 
Dr. Amaranto Abeledo, of Buenos Aires, regarding re- 
ligion as a source of influence and interest in South 
American life. He says: 


“Religion as such does not influence, and I doubt that it 
ever has seriously influenced, the lives of the peoples. So- 
called believers never could see in it other than rites and 
ceremonies; unbelievers, nothing more than superstition. 
Consequently, religion has never furnished to the first named 
any efficient control of conduct, nor to the second any matter 
worthy of serious attention. Hence it is that the expressions 
of religious fidelity, which now and again appear on the pages 
of our histories, either have no real significance or are chil- 
dren of a false historical interpretation, or respond to the 
desire to favour the continuance of certain practices, which, 
in spite of everything to be said against them, are deemed 
useful for the weaker vessels of society, 1. e. for women and 
children. Thus Quiroga could inscribe ‘ Religion’ on his war 
banners but not therefore be any the less one of the most 
sinister figures in the anarchic period of our history. And 
Belgrano, illustrious and virtuous patriot, who is always 
classed amongst sincere Catholics, whilst making mock of the 
infantile religious superstitions of the masses in the High- 
lands of Peru, did nevertheless omit no effort to placate them, ~ 
delivering the flag he himself had created to the custody of 
the Virgin.” 


An analysis of the available data on the subject of the 
religious consciousness reveals three fundamental attitudes 
of the South American mind.towards religion. 


1. Roman Catholic Traditionalism. 

What concerns us here is not a discussion of the Roman 
Catholic Church in South America as a religious organ- 
ization, but rather the attitude towards the Church of 
those people who call themselves Roman Catholics. 


RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS 311 


Roman Catholics in South America are divided into two 
main groups, which we shall study in turn. 

There are, first of all, those people who are interested . 
in the institutional forms of Roman Catholictsm, while 
indifferent towards its spiritual content. It is generally 
admitted that a large number of South American Catho- 
lics belong to this class. ‘They are interested in the 
Roman Catholic Church for social, sentimental or po- 
litical reasons. The Church has united them in marriage, 
has baptized their children and admitted them to First 
Communion, and performs the last rites upon their dead. 
By belonging to the Church they conserve their social 
position and relationships, which means a great deal where 
family life is concerned. Among the lower classes, one 
of the chief ties which binds people to the Church is the 
social aspect of the innumerable festivities celebrated 
under its auspices. Others are interested in the Church, 
because it has been identified with the history of their 
race. Their ancestors for long centuries back were Catho- 
lics ; their country is Catholic; they were born Catholics ; 
and to regard themselves as anything but Catholic would 
create an unwarrantable rift in the continuity of their 
lives. Many continue to be interested in the rites of 
Catholicism because of an indefinable fear of making any 
break wtih the Church. Others again are Catholics, be- 
cause by being so, in countries where the Catholic Church 
enjoys prestige and political influence, it is easier to obtain 
political preferment. It has been said that students during 
the greater part of their university career have no interest 
in religion, but when the time comes for them to embark 
upon life, they suddenly develop a new interest in the 
Church. 

On the other hand, only a minority of these people have 
any real interest in the spiritual content of Catholicism. 
President Alvear, of the Argentine Republic, is quoted as 
having made the statement: “I have become acquainted 
with Catholics in France, but I have never met a single 
Catholic in Argentine.’ A Peruvian priest admitted, 
some years ago, to an Evangelical missionary that the 
proverbial devoutness of Peruvian women was often no 
more than the power of custom. It is also a fact which 


S12 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 

has been observed by correspondents of this Commission 
in different countries that the Indian population, while 
strongly Catholic as regards the Church as an institution, 
are still essentially pagan in their deeper religious life and 
have even conserved a number of pagan rites which have 
been camouflaged in the course of the centuries. Dr. José 
Galvez, the eminent Peruvian writer, referring to the 
point under discussion in a study especially prepared for 
this Commission, says: 


“There is, in the true sense of the word, no religious foun- 
dation in our people. AS regards the Indian, a very interest- 
ing phenomenon occurs. The Spanish conqueror was pre- 
occupied in educating him in what he believed, and the mis- 
sionary and friar laboured much to achieve this object, but 
the Indian, who is naturally distrustful, feigned interest, as 
I think, on most occasions, and superimposed for the sake of 
appearance, the new rites upon the old, giving rise to a 
strange religious syncretism of which there are evidences in 
a series of Catholic practices which have clearly an idolatrous 
meaning. There is scarcely a place of pilgrimage in Peru 
which is not related to a very ancient and indigenous reli- 
gious custom. Where before the Conquest they adored stones 
there are now sanctuaries. Up to what point the Indian con- 
tinues believing in many of his ancient beliefs is a matter to 
be investigated. In the ancient chronicles there are data 
which arouse the suspicion that the Indians often fooled their 
teachers, making them imagine that they believed in the Cath- 
olic rites when in reality they did no more than superimpose 
them on the dim foundation of their genuine idolatrous cere- 
monies. When for reasons of organization and the mechan- 
ism of ritual, the missionary was replaced by the parish 
priest, the problem increased. The Indian possesses a selfish 
concept of religion, and as regards rites, prefers those which 
have a likeness to his ancient sun-worship. If today, as in 
the days of the colonial period, an attempt were made to dis- 
cover whether the idolatrous practices survive, many of these 
would be found. The numerous mass of superstitions which 
have lasted to the present day, are evidence of the fact.” 


An interesting case of dissidents within the Roman 


RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS 313 


Catholic Church comes from Brazil. The Brazilian Com- 
mission reports on this subject: 


“A great number—the vast majority—of Roman Catholics 
do not submit to the Church except in the cases of birth, 
marriage and death and for social celebrations and recrea- 
tions. It is very frequently heard: ‘J am a very religious 
man. I have my own religion. I do not believe in going to 
the confessional and attending Church services.’ ” 


On the other hand, many people are Catholic to the 
point of the uncritical acceptance of Roman Catholic : 
dogma. ‘These are, in their great majority, women. They. 
are not always conversant with the full doctrine of the 
Church, but they are blindly Catholic. Sufficient for them 
to know that the Church affirms or denies something in 
order to accept or reject it. 


2. Religious Skepticism. 


A large section of the people are skeptics in matters of 
religion. Their skepticism takes different forms. 

(a) Hostility towards religion—There is real hostility 
towards religion and towards Christianity in particular. 
A remarkable case of anti-religious sentiment is recorded 
of the editor of one of the leading newspapers in South 
America. On one occasion, when. this newspaper tran- 
scribed a portion of the Constitution of the United States 
of America, it did so leaving out the name of God. When 
brought to task very severely for this omission by other 
members of the local press, the answer was given that the 
divine name was omitted because the concept connected 
therewith was too utterly antiquated to be incorporated in 
any serious contemporary document! ‘The Republic of 
Uruguay has given secular names to all public festivals, 
suppressing all names with a religious association. As an 
example, it has changed the name “Holy Week” into 
“Touring Week,” affording thereby a further illustration 
of the same anti-religious spirit. 

In most cases hostility to religion takes the form of 
opposition to the Roman Catholic Church, especially to 
the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Anti-clericalism is one of 


314 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


the dominant notes in the life of each South American 
country. E’ven many who are sincere Catholics are vio- 
lently anti-clerical. There is, in addition, considerable » 
opposition to Protestantism. ‘The whole Evangelical mis- 
sionary movement is viewed by many people as essentially 
political in its aims. They regard it as a political weapon 
of the United States, a preparing of the way for so-called 
‘Yankee imperialism.” 

It must be admitted, however, that positive hostility to 
religion is not so common in South America, at the present 
time, as it was a generation ago, when the philosophy of 
positivism swayed the minds of thinkers and politicians. 
For example, there are no great writers at the present time 
who follow in the steps of the Peruvian, Gonzalez Prada, 
and the Ecuadorian, Montalvo. So far as religious skepti- 
cism is concerned the sneer of Voltaire and the air of in- 
tellectual superiority with which Comte and his followers 
relegated religions to the past has given place in many 
minds to a deep-seated indifference. 

(b) Indifference towards religion—This is probably 
the predominant mood of the majority of educated people 
and of a large section of the common people. The re- 
ligious problem as such has no interest for them. For 
them there is no problem. ‘They have not thought the 
matter through nor come to such reasoned conclusions as 
would lead them to adopt a definitely anti-religious posi- 
tion. They rather adopt a passive attitude, excluding re- 
ligion from the purview of their thoughts. In very many 
cases this indifference is no more than a natural reaction 
of mental maturity against the rigidity and formalism of 
the religious education received in the home and in the 
school. Dr. José Galvez admirably describes the attitude 
of such people in the following passage: 


“You ask me how far the religious problem exists in 
South America for intellectuals, for youth and for the pub- 
lic in general. I will answer you what I know about my 
own country. He who is here called “an intellectual” has 
no great preoccupation about the religious problem. For 
some, religion is a custom which for the sake of convenience 
they prefer not to investigate or discuss. For others— 


RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS 315 


atheists whom we find in considerable numbers—the prob- 
lem does not exist except as a subject of occasional conver- 
sation. ‘The way in which philosophic studies have been 
carried on in Peru—a way excessively intellectual—has 
been responsible in no small degree for this phenomenon. 
Education in the homes of the people is religious, marked 
by a religiousness of an extremely ritual nature. All re- 
ceive it. Some free themselves from its influence. Others 
conserve it, and some few—very few—discuss it. Among 
the last named there are a few who arrive by an intellectual 
process at atheism, and having once taken up the negative 
position of “I do not believe,” they take no further interest 
in the subject. On the other hand, I know intellectuals who 
say, “I believe,” who, just as in the former case, take no 
further interest in the subject. I believe that this situation” 
is due to the exaggerated ritualism which has always ex- 
isted in the home and in the school. A kind of tiredness ~ 
befalls some, others become mechanized. The religious 
problem in its grand and beautiful sense of loving curiosity 
to understand the creation, life and conduct, scarcely exists 
for our intellectuals. We have not produced a single mystic 
writer. As regards the general public, it is necessary to 
divide it into sections. Among the well-to-do classes, re- 
ligions exists as a custom. I do not doubt that there are 
very many sincere and even some mystic spirits, but the 
religious problem as such, does not exist. Families follow 
ancestral habit, fulfill their ritual obligations, go to mass, 
confess, communicate, hear sermons, the most: of them 
meteoric and pompous, and believe without asking them- 
selves often what they believe, and what is much more 
serious, why they believe.” 


Reports from other South American countries confirm 
the above analysis of the prevailing religious indifference. 
The following statement of an Uruguayan student is in- 
teresting in this connection, presenting, as it does, the out- 
look of a section of present-day South American youth 
upon religion: 


“Their conception of religion (that of young Uruguay- 
ans) is that it represents solely ritualism, formalism and 


316 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


preoccupations about the other life. The evil is due to the 
Roman Church which in these countries of America has 
been sole master of the religious field. It has left in the 
spirit of youth a false concept of what religion is. The 
word “religion” alarms our young men. The name of 
Christ does not inspire profound admiration, and Chris- 
tianity is regarded as simply moral doctrine, or a superior 
but umnrealizable conception of life—only a stupendous 
theory. They do not understand that there can be Chris- 
tians who are not sad and groaning individuals. They do 
not admit that Christianity is a renovating and powerful 
force, a source of stimulus for action on behalf of 
humanity.” 


To the same purpose writes Dr. Ernesto Nelson re- 
garding the prevailing religious indifference in the Argen- 
tine: 


“Speaking broadly, men are non-religious, and I must 
declare that the great majority of men who have distin- 
guished themselves in public service are men without 
Church connection. I will go so far as to state here that a 
sort of suspicion lingers about a Churchman, for people- 
know that loyalty to the Catholic Church does not always 
mean loyalty to what is right and just. However, no mat- 
ter how out of sympathy a man may feel against the 
Catholic Church, the foundation principles of Christianity 
often find a sympathetic response from him. That is not a 
general fact, however. In the minds of educated men, there 
is often no place left where sound religious ideas may de- 
velop. With them even morality has lost its religious foun- 
dations. In such cases morality derives its strength from 
the sense of honor or from patriotic motives. You will find 
hundreds of men ready to accept their neighbor’s burden 
whose acts are prompted not by religious motives but by an 
unmixed sense of duty and a pure desire to do good.... 
Men of moral stamina generally drift away from religious 
activities as soon as they discover that the Catholic Church 
is chiefly a power-seeking institution and that ignorance 
and superstition are her most fruitful allies.” 


RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS 317 


3. Nascent Religious Interest. 

In spite, however, of the widespread religious indiffer- 
ence, there has made its appearance in South America in 
recent years, and in some countries more than in others, 
a decided interest in religion and in the things of the spirit. 
This nascent religious interest is due to a series of causes. 
One has been the philosophic influence of such thinkers as 
Bergson and Boutroux, Emerson and James, who have 
routed the systems of Comte and Herbert Spencer, the 
men by whom the last generation swore. It is a remark- 
able fact that the Peruvian thinker who first introduced 
the philosophy of Spencer to the intellectual life of his 
country, lives to introduce Bergson—an instance of how 
thoroughly South American thinkers have been swayed by 
prevailing tendencies in European thought. The idealism 
of the thinkers mentioned has made a place for religion 
and for spiritual values in life. 

A second cause has undoubtedly been the recent popu- 
larity, especially among the younger generation, of the 
work of men like Tolstoy, Unamuno and Romain Rolland. 
It has dawned upon the youth of the continent that intel- 
lectual and religious interests are not incompatible, nor 
mutually exclusive, but that there are great progressive 
thinkers, for whom religion constitutes the chief source 
of their mental energy and the chief object of their spir- 
itual preoccupation. 

One might specify as a third cause the deep-seated feel- 
ing that one of the lacks in South American life hitherto 
has been the absence of a spiritual ideal. For the supply 
of this lack men look wistfully towards religion. 

(a) Intellectual interest—Let us consider some of the ~ 
forms in which this most hopeful phenomenon expresses 
itself. We find it first as an intellectual interest. For the 
_reasons above stated, religion has become accepted as one 
of the fundamental phenomena of human experience, and 
as one of the problems most worthy of study. The suc- 
cess attending the “conferencias” on religious subjects 
recently given in different cities of the continent by Young. 
Men’s Christian Association lecturers is striking proof of 
this statement. It has been demonstrated during the last 
few years that any public speaker, who has a religious 


318 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


message and knows how to present it in a tactful and at- 
tractive manner, will command an audience and a hearing 
in any large centers. An instance of this was the deep 
impression produced in Lima, in June, 1924, by a course 
of twenty lectures on the subject, “The Evolution of 
Religion in the Ancient World,” delivered by Sr. Julio 
Navarro Monzo. One who attended these lectures wrote 
of them afterwards as follows: 


“The success of the series of twenty lectures was far 
greater than the most sanguine of us had ever expected. 
The Association hall was packed every evening with a most 
appreciative audience, representative of all classes of the 
community. There were foreign diplomats, University pro- 
fessors, Evangelical pastors and members of their flocks, 
students, workmen and the general public, old and young. 
Every evening there was a good sprinkling of the fair sex. 
One of the most extraordinary things about the attendance 
was that a very large nucleus attended the course of twenty 
with absolute regularity. One of the factors which un- 
doubtedly contributed to arouse public interest and keep up 
so large an attendance was the unprecedented. publicity 
which the lecturers received in the press: On the ‘last 
evening of the course, when the subject was Christ and the 
present value of Christianity, people began to take seats an 
hour before the ‘conferencia’ began. At half-past six, the 
hour of commencing, the hall was packed, and even the 
central passage crowded right up to the table. We were 
literally like herrings in a barrel. Imagine two hundred 
and sixty people in that hall and dozens who had to go 
away because they could not get near the door! It was an 
evidence of the fact that at the present time there is nothing 
that will draw such an audience as a discourse on Jesus 
Christ when the Master’s figure and significance are pre- 
sented by a speaker who knows how to do it worthily.” 


A similar testimony is given by Sr. Oscar Griot, who 
writes : 


“Some years ago I gave a series of lectures in the city 


? 


RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS 319 


of Asuncion, Paraguay, upon the personality of Christ, 
studying it on the lines followed by Naville. ‘The students 
and professors of the University attended those lectures in 
mass and’ have retained very deep-rooted memories of 
them. ... Those same persons, however, have never at- 
tended any religious service advertised as such.” 


Some other lectures in which the religious note was pre- 
dominant have found their way into some of the leading 
literary reviews of the continent. 

Another convincing proof that religion is now being 
regarded by many educated people as a problem worthy 
of their attention, we find in the proposed program 
for the second National Congress of Peruvian Stu- 
dents to be held in Lima, in December, 1924. The fol- 
lowing paragraph, which we take from the program in 
question, contains the ideas of the chief promoter of the 
Congress: 


“The Students’ Congress cannot handle the religious 
problem in the form in which the generations of last cen- 
tury would have done. The youth of to-day must face this 
problem free from every kind of prejudice, both from the 
prejudices that come from fanaticism and dogmatism and 
which are a consequence of professing a religious creed, as 
well as from those which are derived from an incompre- 
hensive, anachronic and sectarian Jacobinism. ‘The rela- 
tions between Church and State, the relations between the 
Church and the community, should be contemplated as 
purely social questions, with serene criterion free from all 
passions. 

“The religious problem possesses a very interesting as- 
pect for the youth of the present generation. The life of 
man cannot be reduced to the satisfaction of material neces- 
sities. His spirit has profound longings; it asks itself 
serious questions which can only be satisfied and answered 
in the domain of art and religion. These deep needs of the 
spirit cannot be forgotten by youth when it confronts the 
religious problem. They cannot be extinguished; they 
must, therefore, be satisfied; they are essential to human 
life; they, therefore, merit our respect. These concepts 


320 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


have not been taken into account in the past. The external 
and social aspect of religion has been confounded with its 
inner and moral aspect. This explains the fierce fanatical 
struggles which have been provoked whenever the religious 
problem was tackled. The free and idealistic youth of to- 
day should delimit well those frontiers and not confound 
religion itself with its exploiters.” 


(b) Spiritual interest—Evidence is not lacking of a 
widespread spiritual unrest throughout the continent. 
The existing interest in religion is much more than intel- 
lectual curiosity ; theré is a deep-seated hunger of the soul 
which expressed itself in ceaseless yearnings. We quote 
José Galvez once more, this time as a witness to the reality 
of a spiritual search. In the following paragraph the 
Peruvian poet relates his spiritual pilgrimage from the 
naive faith of childhood, through atheistic gloom, to a 
new dawn: 


“T have passed through various stages in the matter of 
religion. I was brought up in an environment in which 
Catholic practices were strictly observed and as a child I 
believed with fervor and—why should I not say so?—even 
with fear, in all that I was taught at home and in the 
Jesuit College. Afterwards, when a little older, I began to 
doubt. I cannot tell why, for I can recall no particular 
event which motived such doubts. I doubted to the point 
of suffering, and reading did the rest. It was disordered 
reading of every kind of book. I believe that Gonzalez 
Prada, whom I greatly admired, contributed by means of 
his irreligious writing to make me a kind of radical. I was 
an atheist. Do not smile. I was even a half “ frailefobo”’ 
(priest-hater), but afterwards my soul slowly reacted. I 
began, as a very young man, to look much at the sky and 
to look at it without any great astronomic preoccupation. I 
looked at it with religious, almost mystic, preoccupation. 
Perhaps I was influenced by the sadness and poverty of my 
infancy, and the difficulties of my youth, which gave me 
occasion to be more pensive than my best friends and com- 
rades have ever been able to suppose. This stage has been 


~ 


RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS 321 


very long. I believe it lasts still. I feel the need of believ- 
ing and I believe in a Supreme Power, in a force which is 
within and without me, but as yet there has not been formed 
definitely within me the religion which I need. I believe in 
its necessity for every one without exception, and I believe 
that my spirit is at bottom truly Christian. Never did man 
reach his highest and profoundest greatness so much as 
when Christianity appeared. To my way of thinking, Chris- 
tianity is what has made humanity what it is in part, and 
what it should be entirely. I am in my own way a Chris- 
tian, and I think I live within the essential criteria of the 
ideology, the sentiment and the norms of Christianity, but 
I have not been able to return to its rites.” 


Another most interesting case is that of a young Peru- 
vian professor of philosophy. This man is the author of 
a number of philosophic works. Some years ago he devel- 
oped an intellectual interest in the religious problem, be- 
coming interested especially in its esthetic and metaphys- 
ical aspects. Now, however, upon his own confession, he 
is in search of what he describes as a “ spiritual compan- 
ion.” For him, the essence of religion has come to signify 
companionship, and for a divine companion he longs. In 
his classes in the University, he lays special emphasis upon 
the fact that mere idealism is insufficient as a basis for 
morality. Religion is absolutely necessary for life that is 
worth the name. His spiritual search leads him to devour 
every book on religion that comes into his hands. Re- 
cently he requested an Evangelical friend to procure for 
him Harnack’s great work on the “ History of Dogma,” 
and Sir William Ramsay’s “ Paul, the Traveler and 
Roman Citizen.” For Paul he has boundless admiration 
and seeks means to understand better his thought and life, 
_ being doubtless drawn to the great apostle of the Gentiles 
by his combination of a sense of personal companionship 
with Christ, and his metaphysical interpretation of Him 
in the scheme of things. 

Two cases are worth mentioning of seekers belonging 
to the intellectual class who have reached a positive faith 
in Christ. One of these is Sefior Julio Navarro Monzo, 
the ex-journalist and art critic, who is now devoting his 


322 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


life to religious work under the auspices of the Young 
Men’s Christian Association. The life of Navarro Monzo 
has all the elements of a spiritual romance. Son of a 
Portuguese diplomat, he settled in Buenos Aires a number 
of years ago. In his adopted country he occupied for 
some time the position of secretary to the Minister of 
State, and in 1918, when the memorable students’ strike 
broke out in the University of Cordoba, Navarro Monzo 
was sent to reorganize the University. During this time 
he was art critic of “ La Nacién,’ of Buenos Aires. In 
this position he made a name for himself by the penetrat- 
ting and lofty moral tone of his criticisms. During all 
this time his soul hungered for rest and purity. He be- 
came a member of the Greek Orthodox Church in Buenos 
Aires, but did not find what he longed for. ‘This contact, 
however, served to put him in touch with the Gospels, and 
there he found Christ. Shortly afterwards he came into 
touch with the Young Men’s Christian Association, of. 
which he became a member, and of which he is now one 
of the Secretaries of the Religious Work Department. 
His latest book, published in 1924, which he calls “ Horas 
v Siglos” (Hours and Ages), consists of a collection of 
prayers from great religious leaders of the Roman, Greek 
and Protestant branches of Christianity. 

The other case is that of José Carlos Rodriguez, the 
director of a leading newspaper of Rio de Janeiro, who 
became interested in Christ and the Scriptures. In 1921 
he published a learned introduction to the Old Testament 
in two large volumes. His chief object in this work, as 
he stated it in the preface, was to show how Old Testa- 
ment history and literature reveal God’s activity in the 
preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ; the Son of 
Man and the Son of God. This is the first book of its 
kind that has ever been published in Spanish or Portu- 
guese, and may be taken as the first fruits of what may be 
expected when Jesus Christ takes possession of the heart 
and mind of intellectual men in South America, as He has 
done in other parts of the world. 

The increasing number who become adepts of spirit- 
ualism and theosophy might be mentioned as a further 
aspect of the same spiritual unrest. ‘This phenomenon, 


RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS ~ 323 


however, will be dealt with more particularly later on. 
It will be sufficient to draw attention at the present 
stage to the fact that interest in these movements is due 
to a striving after the unknown, the mysterious and the 
spiritual. 

From what has been stated, it becomes evident that the 
contemporary religious consciousness in South America is 
very complex ; but that there can be observed, in the upper 
reaches of thought, a distinct tendency towards what is 
idealistic and spiritual. ‘This tendency is more marked in 
some countries than in others. Students of religious life 
on the continent who are conversant with the situation in 
different countries have remarked that it is probably in 
Peru where the rising tide of spiritual interest has reached 
its highest in representative men. Whether this be so or 
not, it is a fact that there are thoughtful men in every 
South American country who are no longer satished with 
positivistic science and even idealistic philosophy. They 
reach out beyond the limits of verifiable facts and airy 
concepts. .They scan the universe for a Companion, 
Their eyes, as Galvez puts it, “look much at the sky.” 
In a number of cases this search has ended in the embrac- 
ing of Christ and Christianity, but with the attainment of 
the goal of their aspiring, a practical difficulty presents 
itself for many. They refuse to have anything to do with 
what they call “sectarianism.” So far as the organized 
denominations are concerned, these men remain church- 
less. This problem will be dealt with at length later on. 
Let it suffice for the present that what chiefly interests and 
rivets the thought and affection of these seekers is Christ 
Himself. They “ would see Jesus.” 

The fact that those for whom Christ has become the 
center of life and thought manifest a preponderating in- 
terest in the application of Christian principles to the 
solution of social problems, has led some to venture the 
opinion that the ecclesiastical, the supernatural and the 
metaphysical aspects associated with historical Christian- 
ity will never interest South American life and thought. 
This opinion, we believe, to be unwarrantable. Apart 
from what may be expected a priors as a result of true 
conversion to Christ, we find, as a matter of fact, concrete 


324 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


evidence in the lives of such men as those whom we have 
instanced, to lead us to believe that a Christianity which 
has a place of worship as well as a social program; for a 
Divine Lord as well as an historic Teacher; for Divine 
interventions in human history and experience as well as 
the record of religious musings, will be the form of Chris- 
tianity that will make the deepest impression upon the 
South American mind and heart. 


IV. THe PropuEM oF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 


The opinion of Evangelical Christendom continues to 
be divided regarding the necessity and legitimacy of Evan- 
gelical missionary effort on the South American Conti- 
nent. This division of opinion has its origin in the 
divergent views which are held upon two fundamental 
issues. These are: (1) The extent to which the Roman 
Catholic Church embodies New Testament Christianity ; 
(2) The adequacy of its activities in evangelizing and 
Christianizing the Continent. It is no part of the task of 
this Commission to consider the controversial questions 
connected with the former of these issues. We shall deal 
only with the second, and in so doing, take our stand 
strictly upon matters that are practical, aiming merely to 
provide material whereby a reasoned and dispassionate 
opinion can be formed with regard to the legitimacy of 
Evangelical missionary effort on the continent, and con- 
clusions reached as to the attitude which such activity 
should assume towards the dominant religious system. 


1. The Distinguishing Features of Spanish and South 
American Catholicism and Its Missionary Record. 

Roman Catholicism was introduced into South America 
in the sixteenth century by the ‘‘ Conquistadores,” and has 
continued since to be the dominant religion of the conti- 
nent, as it was, and is, of the motherlands of Spain and 
Portugal. In Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and 
Chile, it is the official religion. In Brazil, Ecuador, Uru- 
guay and Paraguay, church and state are separate. In the 
Argentine Republic the relation between the two is anom- 
alous. There is no official religion, but the state recog- 


— 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 325 


nizes the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church in the 
country. 

We referred, on page 303, to mysticism and religious 
fanaticism as peculiar expressions of the Spanish spirit. 
Let us here consider some of the distinguishing features 
of Spanish and South American Catholicism. This we 
can best do by studying the significance in the religious 
life of the people of such concepts as the Cross, the Christ, 
the Virgin and Worship. 

The Cross, as a Christian symbol, bespeaks reconcili- 
ation and peace; but in the religious life of Spain and 
South America it has not had this significance. It has 
rather been made an emblem of politics and imposition. 
Through its association with the Spanish war of recon- 
quest in the fifteenth century, and subsequently with the 
horrors of the Inquisition, this supreme symbol of good 
will became debased into an emblem of war and political 
unity. In 1492 the soldiers of the Cross dislodged the 
defenders of the Moslem crescent from the fortress of 
Granada, and henceforth the Cross became converted into 
the symbol of national unity and of war to the death 
against heresy in Church and State; in a word, against 
everything which might be regarded as a dissociating 
principle in the life of the Spanish nation. This symbol 
of unity later became the fiery cross of aggression in 
South America. Quechuas and Guaranis were forced to 
bow before it and accept the faith which it represented, 
or suffer extermination. Since the days when a crucifix 
was held before the eyes of the Inca Atahualpa, and a 
mechanized image of the Crucified was associated with the 
death sentences in the hall of the Inquisition in Lima, the 
Cross has never been able entirely to dissociate itself in 
South American religious life from the suggestion of 
being a gauntlet thrown down to heresy, a sinister chal- 
lenge to believe under pain of material loss in this life and 
damnation in the life to come. 

Jesus Christ, in the religious art of South American , 
Catholicism, is represented either as a babe in His 
mother’s arms or as a tragic figure upon a cross. That is 
to say, He is enshrined in popular thought and imagina- 
tion as an object for the exercise of maternal affection or 


326 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


compassion. ‘The typically Spanish Christ,—the Christ 
of the famous picture of Velasquez, for example,—is the 
symbol of pure tragedy. According to Unamuno, the 
Spanish race has seen in this tragic figure the symbol of 
its own tragic history. The reality of the risen Christ and 
the note of triumph associated with His resurrection has 
had practically no meaning. The truth is that the historic 
Jesus has always appeared to the Spanish Catholic mind 
as an essentially shadowy and bloodless figure, immeasur- 
ably removed from ordinary life, a figure so charged with 
divinity as to be bereft of humanity. The divine has been 
exalted at the expense of the human. By regarding Him 
simply as an actor in the drama, or as a divine automaton 
lacking self-determination, a gulf has been established 
between the Son of God and the struggling and sinning 
sons of men. 

Another fact worth observing is that in some locations 
Christ has become a local deity. In a country like Peru, 
Cuzco has its Seftor de los Tamblores (Lord of the 
Karthquakes), Ica its Seftor de Lurin (Lord of Lurin), 
Lima its Setor de los Milagros (Lord of Wonders), and 
Callao its Sefior del Mar (Lord of the Ocean). In each 
case this local Christ is associated with a particular image. 

The Virgin, as a religious personality in South Ameri- 
can Catholicism, occupies a place altogether unique. She 
has come to possess a religious value more important than 
that of the Father or the Son. In this connection, the 
famous version of Matthew 11:28, inscribed above the 
door of the Jesuit Church in Cuzco, may be quoted: 
“Come unto Mary all ye that labor and are heavy laden 
and she will give you rest.” Mary is, in the popular faith, 
the supreme intercessor and court of appeal, being in- 
vested with the mother love of God, with that love which 
in Evangelical Christianity is associated with the human 
life and high-priestly office of Jesus Christ. 

To say that Roman Catholic worship as contrasted with 
the worship of Protestant churches is more highly ritual- 
istic is a truism; but in South America worship is more 
elaborately ritualistic than in other Roman Catholic coun- 
tries. It is ritualism which borders on a gross and tawdry 
materialization of religious symbols. The eminent South 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 327 


American writer, Garcia Calderon, says in one of his ar- 
ticles entitled “‘ Catholic Restoration ”’ :° 


“American Catholicism (meaning South American Ca- 
tholicism) has become converted into a social formula and 
elegant rite. Parasitic practices drown traditional belief. 
Minute precepts are substituted for mystic fervour, moral 
elevation and the preoccupation of destiny and of death. 
Many of our Catholics lack profound religious life and live, 
according to the expression of an Italian critic, in. the 
fetichistic adoration of their saints, of whom they ask the 
favor of a good harvest, or of a prize in the lottery.” 


It must be admitted, however, that in recent years 
efforts have been made to give the sermon a more promi- 
nent place in worship, and portions of the Scriptures are 
regularly read in the religious services on Sundays. At 
the same time, it has been stated over and over again, by 
men who are sentimentally favorable to the Roman Cath-+ 
olic Church, that the priesthood exercises no prophetic 
mission from the pulpit, that no guidance is given to the 
people on the great moral and spiritual issues that agitate 
the modern mind. “The hungry sheep look up and are 
not fed.” 

Turning now to the history of the Roman Catholic mis- 
sionary effort in South America, we find undoubtedly 
many noble names and the record of many noble episodes. 
Much noble work is even being done at the present time 
in the great forests of the interior. But when full allow- 
ance has been made for such names, for such episodes and 
for such activities, we make bold to say that the history 
of Catholicism in South America is not associated with 
the transformation of human character nor with the 
modification of human customs and institutions in the 
direction of true moral progress. Dr. José Galvez pro- 
vides us with a statement on this subject which is worth 
reproducing. 


“With regard to the Catholic Church, I think that in 


— 


3 In his book Ideologias. 


328 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


America, in general, viewing things in an unbiassed way, it 
did much good at the beginning, and might have continued 
doing so had it become more humanized. It seems to me 
too ritualistic, too formalistic, too sumptuous to respond 
effectively to the spirit of the gospel, from which it has 
been drifting farther and farther. In South America Ca- | 
tholicism was organized too much as a power. During the 
Colonial period nothing was more frequent than conflicts 
and differences between the Archbishops and the Viceroys. 
. .. It was common for priests to use their sermons to at- 
tack the Viceroys.... The Catholic Church after a little 
time neglected her missionary aspect in the true sense of 
that word, and when once organized, slumbered into the 
simple pursuit of a life of ceremony. That was the reason, 
as I see it, of her failure to spiritualize the Indian. From 
this point of view, a Church which has not been able to 
bring about that religion should determine conduct, has not 
achieved the essential end of her existence. The Catholic 
Church succeeded in South America in completely dominat- 
ing the upper classes (an achievement which did not in- 
volve conquest); but it has not educatedthe.Indian nor 
evangelized the social masses in the sense_of. infusing into 
their hearts the love which evangelization involves. It is a 
fact of history that the institutions of charity, without ex- 
ception, in these countries, owe to the Church everything, 
or almost everything that has been..achieyed_in the. matter 
of social service; but the Church did not create people with 
a love for their neighbor in the great sense in which. the 
Christian religion in general should create. them. Perhaps 
this is the réason why America has™ not produced, at least 
in a form which is really apparent, the Christian type in the 
pure sense. There was in the Colonial epoch a very inter- 
esting Creole in the person of the blessed Fray Martin de 
Porras, in whom is found a sentiment of charity and love 
extending to all beings, even to animals, and in whom there 
shines a kindly Franciscan attitude towards life; but he is 
unique. The missionary, such as history presents him to 
us, had great merits, but at bottom he was nearer the spirit 
of the “conquistador” than any other. He was an heroic 
being who dedicated his life to exploring the country and 
reclaiming savages. National geography owes to these men 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 329 


invaluable services. ‘They were valorous and admirable in 
many senses. They contributed in no small degree to the 
civilization of remote regions of the country; but their 
action in matters purely religious did not achieve what they 
undoubtedly intended it should.” 


2. Present Status of the Roman Catholic Church in South 
America. 

Having considered some of the characteristic religious 
concepts of South American Catholicism and examined its 
missionary record, the actual position of the Church in 
South America may be considered. 

(a) Its intellectual status——This depends upon the men 
who represent it, the literature it produces and the educa- 
tional centers which function under its auspices. 

The intellectuality of the Catholic priesthood is, in gen- 
eral, very low. ‘The most intellectual priests are practi- 
cally ali foreigners, Spaniards and Frenchmen. In a 
country like Uruguay, where the Church has to fight for 
its existence, the standard of education among the na- 
tional clergy is much higher than in countries like Peru 
or Colombia. The Church has undoubtedly many 
liberally-minded priests and prelates, who are well versed 
in modern thought, but towards its content they are undis- 
guisedly hostile. They think in terms of the Syllabus 
which is still in operation: “The Roman Pontiff should 
not enter into agreement, neither be reconciled to prog- 
ress, liberalism and modern civilization.” (80th proposi- 
tion). Little trace of modernism has come to our notice, 
either in individuals or as a movement. The following 
statement from Brazil represents the general position on 
this point: 


“Tntellectual Modernism has few followers in Brazil, 
though among these few there may be some of marked 
culture. 

“The reason is that the native clergy, in the great ma- 
jority, including almost the whole of the foreign clergy, 
are not educated, not even in the matter of Catholic the- 
ology. The educated men of the clergy, some noted and 
eminent, either studied in Europe or in schools not affected 


330 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


with Modernism, or were pupils of ‘these in two or three 
seminaries in Brazil furnished with a selected body of 
teachers,’” 


Men like Zorrilla de San Martin and Manuel Galvez 
are sincere Catholics, and in their writings occur senti- 
mental references of affection towards the Church; but 
neither the one nor the other can be regarded as an apostle 
of Roman Catholic ideas, and much less as an apologist 
for South American Catholicism. When Francisco 
Garcia, Calderon writes on the subject, it is in terms of 
criticism and of the need of reform. We find no trace of 
a national Catholic literature of a solid, apologetic order, 
such as abounds in France,.Great Britain and the United 
States. The output of the Roman Catholic press in South 
America is chiefly limited to daily newspapers, weekly 
devotional sheets containing attacks on Protestantism and 
handbooks of liturgy. No monumental works are being 
produced to expound, defend or apply the principles of 
Christianity or of Roman Catholicism. 

The intellectual status of Catholicism is entirely de- 
pendent upon its schools and colleges. During the last 
thirty years Roman Catholic education has received a 
great impetus. In every republic the Church now pos- 
sesses great institutions, where in many cases the cream 
of South American youth are being educated. From re- 
ports received from representative countries we excerpt 
the following. From Brazil we learn that . 


“Cardinal Arcoverde, leader of the Catholics in Brazil, 
for thirty years has been promoting the multiplication of 
gymnasiums and parochial schools, as well as seeking for the 
highest efficiency of catechetical instruction in Brazil. 

“During a few years previous to 1910 there were distri- 
buted 360,000 copies of the official catechism throughout the 
southern ecclesiastical provinces of Brazil. The edition for 
the North, got out by the Primate of.Bahia, was. different, 
and we have not the statistical results from this. _Instruc- 
tion, then, has been conducted on a large scale and this ex- 
plains how.the clergy has won sympathy among the intel- 
lectual classes during the last thirty years. 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 331 


“So much as regards instruction. Now, as regards edu- 
cation, we will only say that the Roman Church always 
emphasizes, so far as the circumstances permit, the principle 
of passive obedience and unconditional submission.” 


Of Venezuela the following is stated: 


“The attitude of the Roman Catholic Church toward 
education is approval only of her own schools and of those 
where she dominates. During the past decade she has added 
some half dozen schools, all of which have sprung up to 
offset the local Protestant activities. Apparently her prin- 
cipal. aim in educating, is that of keeping her sons and 
daughters out of the non-Catholic schools. Rome is not 
interested in true education. The priests do not inquire 
into things. ‘Their rule is to obey, not inquire; take things 
for granted, not investigate. Most of the students turned 
out of Catholic schools in Venezuela seem to have devel- 
oped primarily the spirit of intolerance to persons and 
creeds not Roman Catholic.” 


In Peru, most of the leading religious orders have 
schools. ‘he best youth in the country have been edu- 
cated for the last thirty years in schools carried on by 
Jesuits and by fathers of the Spanish order of La Reco- 
leta. Practically the entire generation of present day in- 
tellectuals and politicians in Peru has been educated in 
these schools. An ex-cabinet minister made the statement 
a few years ago, that the fact that there is today less 
virile liberalism in Peru than there was fifty years ago is 
due to the education of the present generation under cler- 
ical auspices. ‘The main reason, however, why the major- 
ity of the best families send their children ‘to priests’ 
schools is not because of the superior education these 
schools offer, but rather because of the social prestige 
they command. In Uruguay, since the separation of 
church and state, in 1916, the Church has greatly. ac- 
centuated her educational activity. Catholic universities 
have been founded in a number of countries. The chief 
object of these institutions of higher learning is to prevent 
the youth educated in Church schools from lapsing from 


332 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


the faith, as almost invariably takes place when they enter 
state universities. 

' (b) Its social status —In its relation to the social life 

of the people, the Roman Catholic Church plays a double 

role. It is itself a social institution and is a center of 

' social and humanitarian activity. 

As a social institution the Roman Catholic Church en- 
joys enormous prestige throughout the continent among 
all classes, but especially the upper classes. 

While it is true that the Church, as such, enjoys enor- 
mous social prestige, the same distinction does not in- 
variably apply to her ministers. On this subject, Dr. 
Ernesto Nelson, the* well-known Argentine education- 
alist, writes: 


“Its priesthood is far from enjoying the same social 
standing as ministers do in Anglo-Saxon countries. Very 
few young men of a high moral type freely choose that 
calling. The Catholic theological seminaries are being more 
and more deserted, and the ecclesiastical authorities are at 
pains to fill their ranks. They fish their men from among 
orphans and poor widow’s sons at the price of a pittance. 
But the local seminaries cannot supply all the priests needed 
by the Church. Therefore a large part of them are for- 
eigners—Spaniards and Italians—painfully ignorant, and 
totally foreign to our feelings and ideals.” 


This is equally or more true of other South American 
countries. Formerly, sons of the upper classes entered 
the priesthood. This is now a rare occurrence. Even 
parents who are devoutly Catholic would not:consent for 
a moment that their sons should become ministers of the 
Church. The priest is utilized as a functionary, while 
looked down on as a man. 

The other aspect of the social significance of the Church 
refers to the several ways in which she makes a direct 
impact upon, or contribution to the social life of the 
country. This she does, on the one hand, by organizing 
diverse activities among the different classes of society; 
and, on the other, by founding or administering institu- 
tions of a charitable order, such as hospitals, asylums, 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 333 


orphanages, institutes for the blind, etc. The report from 
Brazu provides us with an admirable example of the 
former of these activities : 


“Universal Catholicism, in view of the conquests of lib- 
erty and of democracy and the ever-increasing strength of 
the laboring classes, without breaking the authority of its 
absolutist principles and its natural tendency toward the im- 
personalization of those with whom it puts itgelf in contact, 
adopts to-day all the tactics conducive to win the sympathy 
of the popular classes and of governments. Such a policy 
was initiated by Leo XIII and the methods of procedure 
were outlined in his encyclical letters. 

“The undertaking of private initiative that produce de- 
sired results in any part of the world are immediately uni- 
versalized. The successful initiatives of the German Cath- 
olics are worthy of mention—the Popular Union (Volks- 
verein) designed to destroy the effects of the Protestant and 
Socialist propaganda by means of tracts distributed gratui- 
tously by the thousand and by means of articles published 
simultaneously, according to the need and opportunity, in 
all the papers of the country. The Popular Union has 
more than a million members, perfectly organized through- 
out Germany. This movement has spread throughout the 
world. In 1907 it was introduced into Brazil, and the Rev. 
Dr. Victor C. de Almeida was its director and propagandist 
for six years. He accomplished very little because of the 
lack of Protestant or Socialist reaction. To-day, however, 
what remains of the Popular Union of Brazil is gaining 
ground because the reaction now exists. Along with the 
Popular Union they organized in Germany the Catholic 
Party, called the Centre. Many countries have imitated 
this organization. In Brazil also there has been organized 
the Catholic party, which up to the present day has not 
produced any results worthy of mention.” 


The same kind of social activity is being carried on by 
the Church in Argentina. Dr. Ernesto Nelson writes: 


“Now comes a much discussed organization which, in 
I919, raised several million pesos among wealthy Catholics, 


334 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


It is called Union Popular Catolica Argentina. It has built 
several groups of working-men’s houses and one big apart- 
ment house in the district of Flores, with provision for col- 
lective activities in the same building, such as community 
rooms, nursery, assembly room and playground. It con- 
templates the creation of what they call a technical insti- 
tute for women and an organization resembling the Young 
Men’s Christian Association, undoubtedly directed to lessen 
the influence of. the Association on the youth of this city. 
The ultimate object of the Catholic Union is to promote, 
organize and coordinate all the Catholic forces in the 
country.” 


In other countries the Church is equally active in this 
direction, especially where there exists an organized work- 
man’s movement. In Peru, for example, the Church has 
organized and controls a large number of workmen’s 
groups. The Archbishop of Lima erected one of the 
largest buildings in the capital as a tenement house for 
workmen, although it appears to be used at present for 
public offices. 

The Catholic Church was the first institution on the 
continent to enter the field of philanthropic activity, and to 
this day, the majority of the hospitals and different kinds 
of asylums in most South American countries are admin- 
istered or staffed by Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy. 
All honor to the thousands of noble women who have 
spent or spend their lives in this most Christlike mission. 
We may be permitted, however, to mention that according 
to reports from all parts of the continent those same 
women are often discriminating in the attention they give 
to patients. Religious zeal or bigotry has prevented them 
oftentimes from revealing the loving and disinterested 
syimpathy of the Great Physician in their contacts with 
non-Catholic patients, who refused to confess to priests 
or take part in the ritualistic ceremonies of the Church. 

(c) Its political status——The important and traditional 
doctrine that the Church and State must be united, and 
that the former is supreme in all moral and religious ques- 
tions has developed in the Roman Catholic hierarchy the 
passion for supremacy over the civil governments. 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 335 


In the colonial period of South American history, the 
Church was supremely powerful. Since these countries 
achieved their independence the power of the papacy has 
been gradually on the wane. Several republics have dis- 
solved the former union between church and state, and 
have broken off relations with the Vatican altogether. But 
when all is said and done, the Church, directly or indi- 
rectly, is still the most potent influence in the public ~ 
affairs of the different South American countries. Let us 
mention one or two aspects of its political activities and 
of its status on the continent. 

(1) The Church ts the ally of reacttonary governments. 
—Three South American countries with reactionary gov- 
ernments can usually count on the Church for support. 
In the case of Venezuela and Peru, it enjoys exceptional 
privileges today. 

As to Venezuela, we are told: 


“The Catholic Church has progressed in one direction, 
namely, politically. The fact that the Pope has bestowed 
special blessings upon Juan Vicente Gomez, President of 
Venezuela, and that one new archbishopric and four addi- 
tional bishoprics have been created in Venezuela by the 
government prove without a question the growing power of 
the Church politically in this country.” 


President Leguia, of Peru, has received similar dis- 
tinctions from the Pope, and he uses his power to foster 
the interests of the Church, which, on her part, offers him 
her support. Although both Houses of Congress passed 
a divorce bill several years ago, the President, at the in- 
stance of the Archbishop of Lima, prevented the bill from — 
becoming law. The government and the Church recently 
attempted to consecrate the Peruvian Republic to a bronze 
effigy of the “ Sacred Heart.” Everything was ready for 
the imposing ceremony, which was to take place in the 
principal plaza of Lima. A few days, however, before 
the event, a united movement of students and workmen, 
backed by the city press and public opinion, so alarmed 
the authorities that the projected consecration was sus- 
pended, and has not been heard of since. Five months 


—_ 


336 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


later, the leader of this movement, who was a teacher in 
an Evangelical school in Lima, was deported, and an 
attempt was made at the same time to deport the head 
of the school. 

(2) Clerical influence tends to neutralize liberal tenden- 
ctes and violates the spirit of national constitutions.— 
The following case from Colombia is typical. Article 
thirty-nine of the national constitution reads: 


“No one shall be molested on account of his religious 
opinions nor compelled by the authorities to profess beliefs 
or observe practices contrary to his conscience.” 


Yet, as the whole national school system is under the cen- 
sorship of the Church, text-books and teachers must have 
her approval. “If a bishop notifies the authorities that 
a certain teacher is undesirable, he must be removed.” 
In practice this becomes a direct contravention of the 
constitution. 

The same country provides another instance. Clerical 
influence succeeded in introducing certain articles into the 
Civil Marriage Law on the statute book which neutralize 
the beneficent effects of the law. ‘These articles are: 


Art. 34: A marriage contracted according to purely civil 
rites, celebrated previously by either party with 
another person is annulled. 

Art. 35: For merely civil effects the law recognizes the 
legitimacy of the children conceived before the 
civil marriage is annulled according to the previous 
article. 

Art. 36: The man who, having been married civilly, after- 
wards marries with another woman according to 
the rites of the Catholic Church, is obliged to pro- 
vide suitable food to the first woman and the chil- 
dren had by her until she marries in the Catholic 
Church. 


Commenting on these articles, the veteran missionary, 
Rev. John J. Jarrett, of Cartagena, says: 


“This is ne temerere decree in action. It almost com- 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 337 


pletely prohibits civil marriage; and it puts the people under 
the dominion of the clergy, who charge so much for mar- 
riages that many form unlicensed unions. Although this 
law says nothing about religion, the Church says that the 
only legal marriage for Catholics is the religious one. 
Furthermore, she says that, in spite of their statement to 
the contrary, all persons are Catholics, if they have been 
baptized in the Catholic Church; judges, secretaries, 
notaries, witnesses and wedding parties have been publicly 
excommunicated and denounced by the bishops time after 
time. Is this in accordance with the constitution? ” 


(3) A strong effort is being made by the Vatican to 
bring about a closer rapprochement between the papacy 
and certain South American governments.—For several 
years an attempt has been made to conclude a concordat 
between the Vatican and Peru. The text of this con- 
cordat is in existence in printed form, together with the 
favorable deliverance of the Commission of Congress 
which reported on it. One of the articles provides for the 
censorship by its Church of all teachers and text-books. 
The government, however, has always feared the conse- 
quences which the signing of such a pact would produce 
in public opinion. ‘The official consecration of the re- 
public to the “Sacred Heart” was intended to sound 
public opinion. But since the popular outburst conse- 
quent on the attempt at consecration, the government has 
apparently departed definitely from all idea of a con- 
cordat, and the Roman See has become equally convinced 
that to force it might stir such a reaction as would damage 
her position and prestige in the country. 

In 1923 the Archbishop of Burgos visited South Amer- 
ica as a special papal envoy. He also carried credentials 
_ from the King of Spain accrediting him as diplomatic 
representative of his Spanish majesty. This double repre-- 
sentation was a master stroke of Papal diplomacy. It 
insured to the Archbishop a princely reception wherever 
he went, even by anti-clerical governments. This was the 
case in Chile, for example. President Alessandri, while 
refusing to attend any function in which the Archbishop 
appeared in his capacity as Papal Envoy, was obliged by 


338 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


the terms of the diplomatic protocol to receive him with 
all the honors due to the representative of a friendly 
power. 

The most important incident that has taken place be- 
tween the Vatican and a South American government in 
recent years is that occasioned by the conflict over the 
Archbishopric of Buenos Aires. We relate this incident 
in the terms in which it has been reported to us by the 
River Plate Regional Commission : 


“For some months a conflict has been pending between 
the Holy See and the Argentine government, in regard to 
the election of an archbishop. According to the terms of 
the Concordat, the government reserves the right to nomi- 
nate this local head of the Church. In the past, the Holy 
See has always accepted the nomination thus made and im- 
mediately proceeded to the election of the one nominated. 
In the present case, the Holy See refused to elect the nomi- 
nee of the government and returnd the nomination., The 
government has insisted on its first choice and refused to 
consider any one else—the nominee, in accordance with the 
discipline of the Church, withdrew his name, declared his 
complete subservience to the Holy Father and otherwise 
humbled and abased himself. But, both the Holy See and 
the government remain firm and no one can foresee the 
outcome. The matter has been thoroughly aired in the 
press and the following quotations show the trend of 
thought. 


The first quotation is from a local English paper, and 
reads as follows: } 


“We announced, some days ago, that .a well-known Ar- 
gentine, a devout Catholic, member of a traditional Irish- 
Argentine Catholic family, had openly advocated a friendly 
separation of church and state. The Vatican, it is now 
declared, is anything but averse to that course. The Pope 
is thoroughly dissatisfied with the condition of the church. 
His Holiness, well informed, laments that in certain pro- 
vinces eighty per cent of the children are not baptized, 
while. ninety per cent of the unions are not blessed. There 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 339 


is no religious life outside of the cities; and even in. the 
great centres there is little sincerity. ‘The Pope declares 
that he would rather have a small but sincere congregation 
than a big but nominal Catholic one. For these and other 
reasons his Holiness is perfectly resigned to the divorce. 
In fact, the Vatican seems to invite the President to move 
in the matter in order that it can operate freely, that is to 
say, without political influence exerted from outside.” - 
The second is from “ La Nacién;’ one of the most in- 
fluential daily papers in Latin America, and is a transla- 


tion of a cable sent by its correspondent from Paris, May 
10, 1924, as follows: ! 


“A high ecclesiastical dignitary, whose name I cannot 
reveal, who has recently been in Rome and who has high 
standing in the circles of the Vatican, has uncovered for me 
a number of new aspects of the conflict which is pending 
between the Argentine government and the Holy See, as- 
pects of whose importance the reader will judge. 

“be matter relative to the filling of the Archbishopric 
of Buenos Aires, the illustrious prelate told me, has two 
phases. It is, primarily, “The Andrea Affair.” The 
League which was founded by ‘this priest, and which was 
to combine or unite all Catholic activities in Argentina, 
overshadowed the congregations (orders) and threatened 
their influence and income. From this fact springs their 
opposition to Andrea. These congregations were the last 
to get the ear of the Vatican. But since then the incident 
has assumed a more general aspect. For the Holy See it 
is no longer a question of persons, but a matter of principle. 
The latest developments of the incident have greatly broad- 
ened the Pope’s knowledge of the real situation of the 
Church in Argentina.” 


It was in this connection that a deputation of Argentine 
ladies visited the Pope, an incident which has already been 
related on page 27. | | 


“His Holiness, Pius XI. has learned that, contrary to the 
optimistic reports given him, there are several dioceses in 


340 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


Argentina which are in a precarious situation because of the 
lack of titular heirs. He knows that in some of the prov- 
inces which are distant from the Capital, eighty per cent 
of the children are unbaptized, and ninety per cent of the 
marriages unblessed by the Church. He knows that Church 
services are held regularly only in the cities. The legend 
that Argentina is a great Catholic country has been de- 
stroyed. A worldly and ostentatious religion has invaded 
the sacred places and has taken the place of faith. 

“In view of this state of things, the Pontiff is disposed 
to react. Although, in appearance, the number of Catholics 
be diminished, His Holiness, Pius XI. prefers to have a 
nucleus of believers rather than a multitude of people who 
are indifferent. Therefore, it is safe to count on great 
firmness on the part of Rome in its negotiations with the 
Argentine government. 

“The Vatican made the offer of a Cardinal’s cape for the 
future Archbishop of Buenos Aires, provided the Arch- 
bishop were named by the pope and the Government—in 
accord. President Alvear replied that he was not selling 
the rights of the civil Power in exchange for a Cardinal. 
Then the Vatican declared itself ready to negotiate a 
friendly separation, patterned on that which exists in 
Brazil, and the President replied that if there is a separa- 
tion, it will be a noisy one, as in France. 

“Tn his dealings with Rome, it would seem that President 
Alvear is looking for an easy political victory.” 


(d) Its religious status—Several religious aspects of 
Catholicism have already been referred to in the course 
of this Report. It is worth while to study those factors in 
Roman Catholicism which make it a religious power in 
South America. The River Plate Regional Committee has 
given especial attention to this subject, hence we quote in 
full their excellent contribution to religious psychology in 
South America: 


“There are many elements of strength in the Roman 
Catholic Church and it continues to make a strong appeal 
to the great mass of the people. Some of these may be 
mentioned in order: | 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 341 


“(1) Its appeal to the senses——A French writer is quoted 
as having declared that “a Protestant Church is one of the 
dreariest places on earth.” One who has been accustomed 
to the gorgeous vestments of the clergy, to seductive music, 
to an ornate interior of the place of worship, to swinging 
censers with their clouds of sweet-smelling incense, to 
altars blazing with lights, to images smothered under 
flowers and, to the untutored mind, almost human in their 
appealing postures as well as in their sculptural forms, to 
the stately ritual, droned in an unknown tongue, and to a 
growing sense of the mystery of it all, may well understand 
the remark of this Frenchman. 

“Many men and women like to have their religion inter- 
woven with mystery and magic, with miracle and wonder- 
working sacrament, with incidents that absorb the interest 
or even amuse, and Catholicism emphasizes its traditional 
human elements in a way that makes large appeal to Latin 
hearts. 

“The Latin American is fond of the ornate, and this 
fondness increases in proportion as Indian blood dominates 
in his veins. ‘Decorations that seem cheap and tawdry to 
the colder Anglo-Saxons of the North are to him as visions 
of the Elysian fields, a very fit dwelling place for the God, 
as he had been taught to believe, who abides near the altar 
enshrouded in the folds of the sacred wafer. 

“ (2) Its appeal to pride—rThe hold of the Roman Cath- 
olic Church on its people, especially in some of the large 
centres of population, is largely social. The best families 
retain their connection with at least a part of its activities, 
its ministers are careful to discourage no kind of entertain- 
ment in which the people may be interested, and are ready 
to give their official blessing to any organization, whether 
a bull-fight or a lottery. A marriage without the blessing 
of the Church, although it has no legal value, will not be 
tolerated by the usual Catholic family; and the more public, 
and the higher up in the hierarchy the officiating clergyman,. 
the greater the social prestige of the contracting parties. 

“ (3) Its appeal to fear—The day has passed when, ex- - 
cept in some of the most backward communities, the threat 
of excommunication produces more than a feeling of sur- 
prise and pity for those who launch it. However, much of 


B42 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


the power of the Church to-day has been secured by timely 
threats of dire punishment for possible infractions of its 
laws. ‘he threatened dismissal of a workman, should he 
embrace evangelical Christianity, or even attend the serv- 
ices, or the withdrawal of all patronage from the corner 
druggist or grocer, will often cause him to change his mind, 
especially if he has a family dependent on his earnings for 
their daily bread. Threatened ostracism from social circles 
will, often, prevent any investigation of truth. 

“(4) Its appeal to spiritual indolence-—The Church 
agrees to become responsible for the individual, provided he 
will abide by the will of the Church. The average Protes- 
tant, by temperament and education, demands the right of 
private interpretation, and will not be content to accept 
ecclesiastical decisions as final. This is not a question with 
the Catholic. He is not to consider the why or the where- 
fore of the storms that he may encounter in his path; the 
route has been marked out for him and he must blindly fol- 
low it. Cardinal Newman once declared: ‘The Fathers 
anathematized doctrines because they were new. ‘The very 
characteristic of heresy is novelty and originality of ex- 
pression. I need not insist on the steadiness with which 
that principle has been maintained ever since.’ 

“ (5) Its appeal to the natural religious instincts of man. 
The original inhabitants of these countries were no excep- 
tion to the rule that there is an intuition of an unseen 
power, higher than man, which is common to the species. 
There are scattered reminders of the primitive religions of 
these primitive peoples, and the conception of the Creator, 
the Great Spirit, seems to have been purer and more ele- 
vated than the ideas that prevailed among similar peoples 
of Asia. 

“ (6) Its strong appeal by reason of its fidelity to the 
great body of Christian truth to which all Christendom 
holds—The doctrines of the Trinity, of original sin, of the 
fatherhood of God, of the atonement through a vicarious 
sacrifice, of salvation through Christ the Redeemer, of the 
Holy Spirit and his sanctifying power, of holiness, the for- 
giveness of sin, the universal kingdom of God, the union of 
believers in a mystical body, the sacraments, the resurrec- 
tion of the body and the life everlasting—all these are to be 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 343 


found in the teaching of Roman Christianity. And, while 
we can but be appalled as we come to know the mass of 
superstition and gross evil which, in Latin America, have 
overcrusted these fundamentals, we must yet admit their 
existence and the tremendous appeal which is made through 
them to the public at large, which is but little interested in 
theological disquisitions. 

“(7) The appeal which inheres in the antiquity and sup- 
posed unity of the Roman Church. The apologist of 
Roman Christianity in these lands never fails to appeal to 
the antiquity of his Church and to point out that Protes- 
tantism is but comparatively modern. Also, the innumer- 
able divisions of Protestantism are pointed out and these 
are held up as proof that dissenters are at war among them- 
selves and have no common goal of endeavor.” 


3. The Attitude of the Roman Catholic Church Towards 
the Evangelical Movement in South America. 

(a) The Roman Church 1s officially cognizant of the 
Evangelical movement.—Not only are the Church authori- 
ties in the different countries cognizant of the Evangelical 
movement within their borders, but the Church, as such, 
is cognizant of it, and closely watches its development. 
Formerly, the papal authorities had’ apparently little 
knowledge of South America and little interest in it. But 
this attitude is now changing, as witness the attitude of 
the Pope in the Andrea incident, the frequent visits of 
South American archbishops to Rome, and the recent visit 
to the continent of a special papal envoy. In this connec- 
tion the following paragraphs from the Report of the 
River Plate Commission are most illuminating and 
instructive : 


“The official attitude of the Roman hierarchy toward 
‘the Evangelical. Churches. has been one of disdain, of 
proud withdrawal from any contact with the evangelical 
movement. ; 

“So an outstanding event in 1923-24 was the publication 
of a number of articles by Roman Catholic writers on the 
progress of Protestantism in this region. ‘The Revue de 
Deux Mondes,’ published in Paris, and probably the French 


344 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


Review having the largest circulation in- Latin America, had 
three articles in the closing numbers of 1923 on the subject 
of Protestantism in South America, with special reference 
to this region. They were written by Cardinal Baudrillat 
and show a profound and careful study of the question he 
treats. Persons and organizations are named and a pretty 
exact description given of the work the Evangelical 
churches are doing. 

“In ‘Razon y Fé,’ the official organ of the Jesuits, pub- 
lished in Madrid, a number of articles during 1923 and 1924 
discussed the ‘ Protestant Propaganda in Spanish America.’ 
These articles also show considerable study of the subject, 
based on publications of the Committee on Cooperation in 
Latin America, the reports of the Panama Congress, etc.” 


A study of the pastoral letters of South American pre- 
lates shows that they have followed with interest such 
recent events in the Protestant world as the Interchurch 
World Church Movement, the conflict between Funda- 
mentalists and Modernists, and the Fosdick case. 

(b) The Roman Church ts markedly hostile to the 
movement.—It would not be difficult to fill a volume with 
evidence of the hostility of the Roman Church to the 
Evangelical movement on the continent. It is not neces- 
sary, however, to pile up citations to exemplify this atti- 
tude of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. For what is more 
natural than that Romanism should oppose Protestantism? 
The religious claims of the former, its political ambitions, 
its traditional hostility towards the fruits of the Refor- 
mation, its sense of spiritual proprietorship, and its resent- 
ment against religious interlopers in South America, all 
tend to make bitter opposition to Evangelical propaganda 
in this continent natural and inevitable. The virulence of 
this opposition will depend always on individual prelates, 
on the degree of culture of the Catholic population in a 
given country or district, on the character and sympa- 
thies of local authorities, and also, to some extent, on the 
foolhardiness or tactfulness of Evangelical propagandists. 
The representatives of the Evangelical movement may 
expect persecution, and it will generally be sound policy 
not to show over much resentment on account of it or to 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH B45 


publish highly colored reports regarding it, but, as far as 
possible, to accept it for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s. 
Yet several observations may not be amiss on this subject. 
The following statements cannot be controverted. (1) 
While in other parts of the world the Roman Catholic 
Church is making an endeavor to popularize her own 
versions of the Bible, not only is no attempt made in 
South America to do so,* but the masses of the people 
receive the idea from their religious instructors that the 
Bible is a book not to read except under the guidance of 
explanatory notes or a confessor, and that the so-called 
Protestant Bible is a positively immoral book. For that 
reason the very word Bible creates a feeling of instinctive 
repugnance even in many educated Catholics. 

(2) The very highest dignitaries of Church, whether 
unwittingly or maliciously, misrepresent the nature, the 
institutions and the activities of Protestantism, both in 
South America and throughout the world. The Arch- 
bishop of Lima is considered to be a broad-minded man. 
He has traveled both in Europe and the United States, 
yet in a pastoral letter published on March 7, 1924, this 
prelate allowed himself to make the following statements: 


“There are Protestant denominations which permit in- 
definite divorce; others adultery, not a few polygamy, abor- 
tions, infanticide and many other crimes.” 


This is regarded by him as the logical consequence of 
the principles of free investigation (libre examen). 


“ Protestantism, should it become established in our coun- 
try, would certainly produce more terrible and disastrous 
effects than those which it is producing in the countries 
where it has had its origin. A manifestation of the Pro- 
testant spirit is that unbridled avidity with which are read 
and divulged even by the newspapers, the most porno- 
graphic and unsettling books.” 


4An exception should be made in the case of the Roman 
Catholic secondary schools in the Argentine republic, where the 
New Testament is now read. 


346 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


(3) In countries where popular education is more dif- 
fused and where the political power of the Roman Cath- 
olic Church is less, the latter does not condescend. to the 
methods or terms of attack on the Evangelical movement 
which obtain in more backward countries. This is practi- 
cally true of Uruguay and the Argentine, where the 
Church has to fight for her existence, and where it is in 
her interests to make the most favorable impression pos- 
sible upon public opinion. 

(c) The Roman Church ts everywhere paralleling 
Evangelical methods.—In recent years many notable cases 
have occurred in different South American countries of 
the initiation of activities or the founding of institutions 
in imitation of Evangelical activities and institutions. 
Typical cases are the following. In 1923 a camp of 
Catholic students was held in Piriapolis, Uruguay, in imi- 
tation of the camps which have been held in that watering- 
place by the Young Men’s Christian Association every 
year since 1911. The Rev. J. P. Gattioni, an Evangelical 
pastor in Buenos Aires, writes: ! 


“The Roman Catholic Church has changed in her ways 
of working. She has introduced into her-educational insti- 
tutions everything that was original in Protestantism. She 
has introduced into her secondary schools the reading of 
the New Testament (with notes, of course), physical edu- 
cation, establishing well equipped gymnasiums, the ‘ Van- 
guards of the Fatherland’ imitating the Boy Scouts. She 
organizes camps similar to those of the Young Men’s Chris- 
tian Association, conducts financial campaigns using ‘the 
same methods as the Association. She has occupied her- 
self in social work, organizing workmen’s and _ students’ 
clubs, with the object of removing those who belong to her 
from the undermining influences which threaten) to destroy 
the edifice of her eee | 


To the same purpose writes. Dr. Ernesto Nelson: 
“... you can stimulate Catholic activity through the 
ctu tite of better methods. So it was the case with the 
organizations conducted by the Rev. Morris at Palermo. 


THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 347 


His success compelled the Catholics to start an organization 
called “Conservation of the Faith’ as a competitor against 
the former, the result of which has been to spread the 
movement Morris had started.” 


These are but illustrations of what is taking place to a 
greater or lesser degree over all South America. 


4. The Attitude of the Evangelical Missionary Movement 
Towards the Roman Catholic Church. 


What should this be? Three attitudes are possible. 

(1) Evangelical workers may adopt an attitude of 
frank hostility towards Catholicism, losing no oppor- 
tunity of wielding against its beliefs, practices and insti- 
tutions the hammer of the iconoclast, and making every 
blow resound to the music of that ancient battle-cry, 
Delenda est Carthago. (2) They may work for the 
reformation of the Roman Catholic Church in South 
America, believing that a reformed Catholicism is the 
great need and only hope of Christianity on the continent. 
(3) They may devote themselves constructively to their 
own tasks, relegating the whole question of Catholicism to 
the realm of experience, in the faith that the entrance 
of light is the best solution for problems created by 
darkness. 

(a) The attitude of hostility—Those who adopt this 
attitude are a decreasing minority. ‘They are, in general, 
Evangelicals whose work has brought them into very 
close grips with Romanism as a system, and whose tem- 
pers bear the scars of conflict. 

The general opinion, however, is that direct attacks on 
the Romish system are unwise. They do not convince or 
influence faithful Catholics, but rather embitter them, 
while they provoke a counter-attack by the hierarchy. 
They will tend to prejudice the more seriously minded 
among the general public, who as a rule know more about 
the sins and shortcomings of Catholicism than can be told 
them. In this connection an Uruguayan pastor has writ- 
ten very sane words: 


“We must avoid assuming the attitude which is so vulgar 


348 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


and easy as well as improper, that is often adopted in re- 
ligious and political controversy, that, namely, of pretend- 
ing to dissimulate error, or magnify our own merits, while 
we lay special emphasis on the errors and fail to recognize 
the merits of those who are opposed to us. When we are 
attacked, we believe that we should merely answer by put- 
ting clear emphasis on our own beliefs, and by censoring 
the adulterations of the truth and the dogmas which have 
been advanced by Romanism as against the teachings of 
the gospel.” 


A Colombian lawyer has words to the same effect: 


“My opinion is that the Catholic religion should be com- 
bated only by setting forth the superiority of the. Evan- 
gelical by means of an intense effort carried on through 
schools, public lectures and literature, added to the religious 
service and efficient ecclesiastical organization.” 


(b) A desire to reform Catholictsm.—While there are 
not lacking those who believe with Francisco Garcia 
Calderon in the possibility of a reformed Catholicism in 
South America which would worthily and effectively 
represent vital Christianity, many impartial observers con- 
sider such an outcome to be a vain hope. Says an Argen- 
tine university professor: “In South America Roman 
Catholicism is destined to become more and more worldly 
and political.” 

The only hope of reformation would seem to be sepa- 
ration from Rome and the formation of national churches, 
like the recently formed national Church of Czecho- 
Slovakia. As we have already seen, the presence of 
Evangelical activity acts as a stimulus to the Roman Cath- 
olic Church and stirs her to laudable emulation in many 
directions. _So much is this so that there are South 
American Catholics of a liberal type who favor Protestant 
competition for the sake of its salutary effect upon their 
own Church. Wherever righteousness appears and under 
whatever auspices, loyal Christian hearts will rejoice. But 
to cherish the hope that peripheral accommodations to 
circumstances are a prelude to general reformation evi- 


MINOR RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES 349 


dences little knowledge of the essence and history of 
Romanism. 

(c) The pursuit of a constructive, independent policy.— 
Our conclusion is, therefore, that Evangelical Christians 
in South America should not regard the Roman Catholic 
Church as an object for their sword to attack or a temple 
for their trowel to restore. Rather with one eye on Christ 
and His gospel and the other on human need, they will 
develop a constructive policy of their own. What that 
policy should be we will consider in the last chapter, after 
dealing with minor religious influences which oppose his- 
torical Christianity on the continent. 


V. Tuer PropremM oF Minor RELIcIous INFLUENCES. 

We may now take a glance at some of the main in- 
fluences of a religious or quasi-religious order, which dis- 
pute the claims and progress of historical Christianity on 
the continent. Chief among such influences are Theoso- 
phy, Spiritism and Positivism. A study of these systems 
will be fruitful in two regards. It will help us, in the first 
place, to understand better the general religious situation 
in South America, and, in the second place, it will serve 
to give us a more comprehensive view of the task to be 
confronted by those who would enthrone Jesus Christ in 
human hearts, human minds and human relationships, that 
is to say, in the emotional, the intellectual and the social 
life of South American peoples. 

A few observations on the general religious significance 
of the systems mentioned will serve as a background for 
the study of each in turn. 

These systems represent a double reaction, from Cath- 
olicism on the one hand, and from skepticism on the 
other. When a thoughtful South American breaks with 
Catholicism, his almost inevitable refuge is Skepticism. 
_ His spiritual pilgrimage from absolute belief to absolute 
doubt is natural for two reasons. In the first place, be- 
cause as a Catholic he was trained to think in terms of 
absolute unity and absolute truth, so that when he came 
to doubt Catholicism, the possibility of there being any 
other religious system that might serve as a resting place 
_ for his spirit never occurred to him. In the second place, 


350 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


because temperamentally, as we saw in the first chapter, a 
typical South American has a natural propensity towards 
extremes. In recent years, however, a marked spiritual 
unrest has made its appearance in all classes, but especially 
among intellectuals. Skepticism has nothing to offer to a 
soul hungry for companionship, to eyes that gaze wist- 
fully at the sky, to hands that search nervously for imple- 
ments to undertake the work of social reconstruction. 
The systems we are about to study are some of the spirit- 
ual resorts of a new army of seekers. 

These systems afford an illustration of two facts: (1) 
that a metaphysic of existence is an innate necessity of 
the human mind; (2) that rationalism will not provide an 
adequate metaphysic. The heart also has its reasons, and 
these reasons may sometimes lead the acutest minds to 
formulate quite fantastic hypotheses. Man must have a 
reasoned view of reality. Theosophy is essentially a quest 
for truth in the absolute sense and centers in a special 
cosmological view of existence. Spiritism occupies itself 
especially with the exploration of the border land of 
mystery between the visible and the invisible, between the 
incarnate and the discarnate. Its chief interest is escha- 
tology and apocalypse. Positivism is the application of 
the natural science method to human relationships. It 
makes sociology the queen of the sciences and apotheosises 
humanity. Ina word, Theosophy is a theory of universal 
life; Spiritism is a theory of soul life; Positivism is a 
theory of social life. In each case the theory possesses a 
religious value for those who believe it. 

In view of the fact that the three systems mentioned 
are very unequally represented in South American coun- 
tries, being practically non-existent in several, we propose 
to study them as they have developed in Brazil. Their 
development in that country may be taken as typical of 
what may be expected to take place in other countries. 
We are fortunate, moreover, in having received from 
Brazil a very full study of the whole “subject, a study 
which is very largely incorporated in this report. 


1. Theosophy. 
Theosophy professes to be a philosophy, a science and 


MINOR RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES 351 


a religion. It professes to embrace all that is true in 
every department of human thought and research and is 
at once eclectic and synthetic. Its devotees like to call it 
the “world religion.” ‘They find aspects of theosophic 
truth scattered through the ancient Aryan literatures, in 
Zoroastrianism, in Chaldean and Hebrew thought, and es- 
pecially in the Greek pantheistic philosophy. Their spir- 
itual ancestors in the Christian era are the Neoplatonists 
of the early Christian centuries and in later times Bruno, 
Spinoza, Boehme, Swedenborg and Eliphas Levi. 

The modern theosophical movement originated in 1875, 
when the Theosophical Society was founded by Madame 
Blavatsky and Col. H. S. Olcott. The objects of the 
society were: (1) To form the nucleus of a universal 
brotherhood of humanity, without regard to race, creed, 
sex, caste or color. (2) To promote the study of Aryan 
and other Eastern literatures, religions, philosophies and 
sciences ; and to demonstrate the importance of that study. 
(3) To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the 
psychic powers latent in man. 

In 1877 Madame Blavatsky published a book entitled 
Isis Unveiled, A Synthesis of Religion, Philosophy and 
Science. It is now claimed, according to one of the ex- 
pounders of the system, Walter R. Old, that the ‘‘ Theo- 
sophical Society was under the direction of certain 
masters of the Wisdom-Religion (Mahatmas or ‘Great 
Souls’), adepts in occult science, who had instructed 
Madame Blavatsky in its mysteries and deep philosophy, 
and whose mouthpiece in the ancient world she was.” 

In South America the theosophical movement has taken 
root in Chile, the Argentine and Brazil. The Brazilian 
report says: 

“Theosophists are at present very active. Among them 
are found leading men in science, in military service and 
in the educated classes. The following facts are taken 
from a sketch of the theosophical movement in Brazil by 
General Raymundo P. Seidl, General Sec. of the Bra- 
zilian Section of the Theosophical Society. 

“On December 17th, 1875, the Theosophic Society 
was founded in New York. Not until the year 1902 was 
the first Brazilian Lodge established. Six years previous 


352 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


Prof. Dario Velloso had published, so far as we know, the 
first work on Theosophy in Brazil. About this time there 
was formed, in Rio, a nucleus of investigators. They 
were interested merely in the scientific side of the doctrine, 
ignoring the religious aspect. They failed. At this time 
also a group of Germans from Santa Catharina attempted 
to establish a Theosophic colony. They, too, failed. The 
time was not yet ripe. 

“In the latter part of the year 1902 the blind Prof. 
Henrique Rocha brought to Rio from Buenos Aires a copy 
of the work of Helena Blavatsky, The Hidden Doctrine 
(A Doutrina Secreta). Certain officials and students of 
the Military School flocked to study this work. Shortly 
after this there appeared in the vernacular—translated by 
Henrique Serra—Mademoiselle Aimée Bleck’s book en- 
titled A Ceusx Qui Souffrent. This very concise little 
work, in beautiful language, has been one of the most 
fruitful elements of propaganda in Brazil. 

“In March, 1910, when the Spanish theosoph, Dr. 
Mario Rosa de Luna, arrived in Rio, there were many 
students of theosophy there. Dr. Luna’s visit to Brazil 
was promoted by Argentine theosophs, the chief promoter 
being Sr. Frederico W. Fernandez, pensioned captain of 
the Argentine navy, then representative of the president 
of S. T. in South America. Dr. Rosa de Luna spent seven 
days in Rio, proving himself very active and efficient. On 
- April 28th, 1910, the second Brazilian Lodge—the Persev- 
eranca—was established. After this others were founded.” 

Their program, as defined by General Seidl, is as 
follows: | 





“Fach of these lodges seeks to be a means of conveying 
the teachings of the theosophic instructors. With open 
arms they receive all who approach them. ‘To serve hu- 
manity, through service to God, is the ideal to which they 
aspire. No one is deprived of religious instruction in their 
meetings. All are treated with equal respect and veneration. 
On November 17th, 1919, all the Brazilian lodges met and 
founded the Brazilian section of the Theosophic Society. 
Some months previous the Argentine and Chilean sections 
had been formed,” 


MINOR RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES 353 


It is a notable fact that within the ranks of Theosophy 
are found many of the most intellectual and progressive 
characters in the South American countries, where the 
society has been established. 


2. Spiritism. 

“Spiritism is the name given to a movement in ex- 
istence since 1848, which might be called religious, philo- 
sophical or scientific, and believes in the communication 
with ‘another world,’ together with the existence of phe- 
nomena which cannot be explained by ordinary physical 
laws.” 

“Spiritism in Brazil is an offshoot of the movement 
in France which began in 1855 with the activities of Allan 
Kardec. The first society in Brazil was organized in 
1873 under the name of Confucius. It was shortlived. 
In 1876 the group, “ God, Christ and Charity,” was estab- 
lished, having the definite aim of studying the teachings 
of Jesus from the standpoint of Spiritualism. In 1879 
there was a split in this society, and the seceders organ- 
ized a new group, “ Brotherhood,” under the auspices of 
the “ Spirit Ismael,” supposed to be the guadrian of spir- 
itualism in Brazil. This group was disbanded in 1893. 
In the meanwhile a number of groups were organized in 
many states of Brazil.° 

The stronghold of Spiritism in Brazil is the capital of 
the republic. The more efficient and well organized move- 
ments are those in the States of Amazonas, Para, Per- 
nambuco, Parahyba, Alagoes, Bahia, Rio, Minas, S. 
Paulo, Parana and Sta. Catharina, where federations have 
been established. 

There is no national organization as an organic center 
of the movement. In 1900, the International Congress in 
Paris gave opportunity to seventy-nine societies in Brazil 
to agree on having at the Congress a representative, and 
Mr. Leon Denis was elected the delegate of Brazil. 
Again, in 1904, to celebrate the centenary of Allan Kardec, 
there was a gathering of state and local delegates, repre- 


5 New Age Encyclopedia. The grand total of members (ac- 
cording to statistics made in 1919 by Souza Moraes) is 271,530, 


354 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


senting some sixty groups and Federations. ‘The delegates 
adopted the Bases for Spiritual Organization, but hereto- 
fore this plan has not been successfully carried out. 

The activities of this Society are: a membership depart- 
ment, a library, sessions or didactic and experimental 
services, a dispensary, help for funerals, eleemosynary 
department, a book store and editorial department, and a 
judicial department, to defend members and groups when 
brought before the courts. Plans have been made to es- 
tablish a hospital and schools. ‘There is in S. Paulo a hos- 
pital under the management of a leading druggist. Others 
have been recently established in Rio and elsewhere. 

From 1900 to 1923 the dispensary prepared 2,225,782 
prescriptions. ‘The medical medium prescribes, as it is 
presumed, under the immediate guidance of a spirit. As 
the medical profession is strictly regulated in this country, 
the spiritualistic organizations which have dispensaries, 
and individual healing mediums have very frequently been 
in conflict with Public Health officers. 

In 1905 the federation in Rio was absolved by a local 
judge from the charge of illegal ministration of medicines. 
Recently a medium was fined by the Public Health depart- 
ment, and by a popular subscription the amount was raised 
to pay up the fine. 

lhe propaganda is made intensively through the spirit- 
istic press, of which there are some twenty-two period- 
icals, and through the secular press. One of the spiritistic 
papers is reported to issue 50,000 copies. Personal work, 
in conversation and by handing away copies of magazines 
and leaflets is very noticeable. 

Since religious teaching was very deficient in the Roman 
Catholic Church before the present reaction towards a 
better organization of the work and catechetic teaching, 
many souls that were tired and hungry fell under the 
attraction of Spiritism. And as the clergy does not in- 
quire after the personal convictions of their sheep, as long 
as they comply with the Church’s ceremonial demands and 
do not refuse donations to the Church, many persons are 
both Roman Catholic and Spiritists, seeking in both doc- 
trines and practices a remedy to calm a troubled con- 
science, to alleviate their suffering, all to be sure that in 


MINOR RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES 355 


some way they will escape punishment for their sins. 
Superstition and an old bent toward the animistic beliefs 
of Indians and Africans, still surviving through folk-lore 
and the influence of servants, a widespread dislike of 
physicians and official medical science, makes the healing 
ministry of Spiritism welcome to many. The worship of 
St. Michael and the Holy Souls, countenanced and fos- 
tered by the Roman Catholic Church, furnishes a favor- 
able background to the invocation of spirits. A reaction 
against agnosticism, which is very strong among intel- 
lectuals, and the fascination of psychological studies and 
research, makes the scientific features of Spiritism appeal 
strongly to a good number of educated men. 

“The main tenets of Spiritism are: (1) The law of 
spiritual evolution, which will insure universal salvation 
through personal expiatory experience and purifying 
suffering ; (2) The law of action and reaction, which ex- 
plains suffering and makes it a necessary and uplifting 
process of approach to God; (3) Charity, 7. e., practice of 
beneficence as the only expression of religion; and (4) 
The need of guidance by spirits not only as to the mys- 
teries of death but as a help to every day problems.” 

In the opinion of the Brazilian committee, Spiritism is 
the great challenge to Evangelism today in Brazil. 


3. Positwism. 

_ Positivism is associated with the name of the French 
philosopher Auguste Comte (1798-1857). The New Age 
Encyclopedia has a luminous and synthetic account of his 
system, which we here quote: 


“Comte’s work, despite its diverse elements, can be re- 
garded as a unity. He had written a “Plan of the Scien- 
tific Works” necessary to reorganize Society” in 1822, in 
which he pointed out the co-existence of two tendencies, 
one to the break-up of old institutions, the other to new 
forms of social evolution. He became imbued with great 
admiration for the Catholic Church, and wanted to adapt 
the methods and principles of the mediaeval Church to new 
social conditions, for a religion of humanity. He desired to 
imitate closely the organization and rites but not the doc- 


356 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


trines of Catholicism. He formulated the law of the Three 
States, according to which knowledge was (1) theological 
(belief in supernatural government of the world), (2) 
metaphysical (objects are ruled by external but abstract 
force), (3) positive (law explains everything). He ar- 
ranged the sciences in’ order, beginning with mathematics, 
and ending with sociology; each depended on the one pre- 
ceding, and sociology, the most advanced, was the last to be 
understood. In his later works he raises humanity to the 
place held by God in monotheism. Amongst other ideas, he 
believed in the enormous importance of women in the social 
state. His system despite its brilliance and suggestiveness 
on many points has*not as a whole won. very wide 
acceptance.” 


A generation ago Positivism was a powerful force in 
South America. Today only in Brazil is its influence 
felt. The history of the movement in that country is 
interesting : 

“The first Society created in Brazil for the study of 
Positivism was established on April 1st, 1870, which was 
reorganized in 1878, and again on the 11th of May, 1887, 
Miguel de Lemos being the president, this society organ- 
ized the Positivist Church in Brazil. A new development 
in 1891 changed it into the Positivist Church and Apos- 
tolate in Brazil. In 1897 the Positivists dedicated their 
beautiful temple in Rio. 

“The growth of the Positivist Church is thus figured: 
1878, 5 members, men; 1888, 39 men and 11 women mem- 
bers; in 1898, 52 men and 28 women; in 1908, 85 men and 
61 women; in 1917, 84 men and 74 women, total 158. 
No data are available for the recent years, but there has 
been an increase in the activities of this small group; 
whose intellectual and political influence is entirely out of 
proportion to its number. 

“Most of the advanced political ideas incorporated in 
the organization of republican life and governments are 
due to positivist leaders, and in particular to General Ben- 
jamin Constant, the leader of the republican youth in the 
military school. ‘To his engaging personality and high 
character much of the prestige of the movement was due. 


MINOR RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES B57 


He was one of the men who contributed most in the 
proclamation of the Republic.” 


4. The Attitude of Evangelical Christianity Towards 
These Systems. 


This is not the place for a full discussion of these re- 
ligious systems. Our chief concern here is to point out 
those aspects in each which are most objectionable from 
an Evangelical viewpoint, and at the same time, give sug- 
gestions as to how the influence of each can best be coun- 
teracted. The two former deal chiefly with the spiritual, 
the two latter with the material. 

(a) Toward Theosophy—An attitude of condemnation 
is justified for two reasons: (1) The alleged originality 
of Madame Blavatsky, the founder of modern Theosophy, 
and the veracity of her statements regarding the receipt 
of missives from Mahatmas, have been completely dis- 
proved. Her book, Isis Unveiled, has been shown to be 
pure plagiarism. In this connection, those interested in 
combating Theosophy should reach such books as Gar- 
rett’s Isis Very Much Unveiled, Podmore’s Studies in 
Psychical Research, and Solovyoft’s A Modern Priestess 
of Ists. ‘These books will show that the movement had its 
origin in a fountain of mendacity and deceit. 

(2) The theosophic conceptions of karma and reincar- 
nation have logical consequences of a very disastrous 
kind. ‘They cut at the nerve of sympathy for the dis- 
tressed, who may be regarded as simply suffering the con- 
sequences of sin in a former existence, while one’s 
preoccupation about one’s own condition: is made an ex- 
cuse for not troubling about others. 

(b) Toward Spiritism—A similar attitude is justified 
by (1) the fact that there is no absolute proof of the 
objective validity of the phenomena alleged by Spiritists. 
It has been proved that famous scientists have been gulled 
by “mediums” whose art broke down when they were 
face to face with expert conjurers, that is to say, with men 
accustomed to deal with the subjective side of phenomena. 
A book worth reading in this connection is The Follies 
and Frauds of Spiritualism, by Walter Mann, published 
in 1919, 





358 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


(2) It has been proved that frequenting of “ seances ” 
and in general dabbling with Spiritism has had disastrous 
effects on people. Their character became weakened and 
they fell an easy prey to suggestions of an unwholesome 
kind. 

(3) The recent recrudescence of Spiritism has been 
largely due to the personal losses incurred in the War. 
A new interest has been created in the problems of the 
soul and immortality. Even if some of the phenomena 
alleged by the Spiritualist were real, the Evangelical 
Christian knows a more excellent way. He ought to stress 
the reality of the companionship of Jesus Christ, and the 
indwelling of the Holy Spirit who reveals to man’s Spirit 
the “ deep things of God,” the things most worth knowing. 

(c) Toward Positivism-—Positivism and Christian 
Science are chiefly concerned about the material, that is to 
say, with the body. The former is interested in the per- 
fection of the social organism and the latter in the indi- 
vidual organism. 

(1) Positivism breaks down in excluding all spiritual 
factors from life. It views the universe as a closed sys- 
tem, and itself as the final and ideal form of human 
thought and organization. Life cannot be interpreted in 
terms of the lowest, but in terms of the highest. Scien- 
tific formulas are not causal entities, but simple empirical 
descriptions. 

(2) Enthusiasm for humanity, the apotheosis of human 
society, is not a sufficient religious ideal. It may be suf- 
ficiently strong to guide the activities of a few select 
spirits, but men in general need more. 

To conclude, the best way to combat these systems will 
be to demonstrate that in the gospel of Christ and in the 
kind of life it produces are found ideal solutions for the 
musings of the mind, the agitations of the heart, and for 
the translation of thought and feeling into noble and con- 
structive activity. There is no cosmic scheme like the 
scheme of redemption in Christ; no guidance so practical 
and luminous as the companionship and the guidance of 
the Spirit of the living Christ; no enthusiasm for human- 
ity like the enthusiasm engendered in the hearts which 
have become fellow-workers with God in the establish- 


EVANGELICAL WORK AND PROGRESS 359 


ment of His Kingdom; and no faith so potent for attack- 
ing evil and suffering everywhere as the faith of those 
who can do all things through Christ Who strengthen- 
eth them. 


VI. Tue PropueM oF EVANGELICAL WorK AND 
PROGRESS. 


This Report would remain incomplete if our discussion 
of the South American mind, its attitude towards the spir- 
itual, and the various types of religious influence striving 
for its control, did not lead us to sketch briefly against this 
broad background our conception of the special contribu- 
tion which the Evangelical movement should make to the 
solution of these conditions. 


1. Protestantism in Other Latin Countries. 


It has been alleged that Protestant or Evangelical Chris- 
tianity has never appealed to the Latin peoples. With this 
we take issue. Shortly after the Reformation the Prot- 
estant movement propagated itself rapidly in France and 
Spain. Some of the choicest spirits in both countries em- 
braced the Reformed faith. Had it not been for the ex- 
traordinary violence of the Inquisition in Spain and the 
tragic thoroughness of its work, the religious history of 
that country would have been different. Nothing can be 
more unhistorical than to declare that the basic truths of 
the Reformation made no appeal in Spain. They won the 
minds and hearts of some of the best Spaniards and did 
not reach the masses, not because of any inherent unat- 
tractiveness, but because the force of the Inquisition and 
the counter-Reformation gave them no chance. At the. 
present time the Evangelical church in France counts 
among its members a number of the most prominent citi- 
zens of that country, out of all proportion to its numerical 
strength. 


2. Criticisms of Evangelical Missions in South America, 
Evangelical missions in South America have been criti- 
cized by national thinkers on three main grounds: 
(a) As an Anglicizing movement.—The Evangelical 


360 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


movement has been criticized as a tool of imperialistic 
politicians. This leads us to make one or two remarks, 
(a) The term Pan-American should be abolished from all 
connection with Evangelical propaganda in South Amer- 
ica. It is a term distasteful, even in its political accepta- 
tion, to many of the best minds on the continent. Used in 
connection with Christianity, as in the title of a well- 
known book, Pan-Americanism in Its Religious Aspect, it 
provincializes, or at best, continentalizes what is by nature 
universal. No worthy appeal for religion can ever be 
based on mere community of interests or common bound- 
aries. (2) It is difficult for the popular mind in South 
America to appreciate the fact that men belonging to a 
powerful sister nation can work in other countries without 
being inspired by selfish or national interests. Service 
rendered for the pure love of God, of truth and of human 
beings, is difficult to grasp. For that very reason, the 
Evangelical missionary should avoid all entangling associ- 
ations with commercial or political interests in order that 
he may stand forth in the full light of day as God’s repre- 
sentative and no other’s. (3) Every effort should be made 
consistently with true progress, to accelerate the passing 
of the period of religious tutelage under which Evangel- 
ical Christianity exists in the Spanish-countries of South 
America. , 

(b) A moral failure —It has been alleged that Evangel- 
ical Christianity in South America has been a moral 
failure. 

In this connection a very severe indictment has been 
made of Protestantism on its moral side by an Argentine 
University professor. In answer to the question, “ Why 
is it that the work of the Evangelical churches shows such 
slight progress in South America?” the professor says: 


“This is because we people of Catholic education— 
although it may seem paradoxical to you—have a conception 
of religion in general, and of Christianity in particular, 
which is much higher and much more respectful than that 
which the Protestant peoples have. And, inasmuch as we 
consider Christianity as a religious, social, ethical ideal 
which is very difficult to attain to, we lay it to one side and 





EVANGELICAL WORK AND PROGRESS 361 


live as pagans. But, at the same time, we are astounded by 
the facility and freshness with which Protestantism pro- 
claims Christ and Christianity, while, at the same time, it 
maintains as low a level—socially, morally,. politically—as 
does Catholicism. This is, in my opinion, the reason why 
Protestantism does not progress in these countries—it has no 
moral efficacy.” 

In reference to the influence of the Bible, which is the 
chief agent of Evangelical propaganda, he says: 


“YT do not believe that the Bible has any efficacy in 
modern mentality. The War showed its failure in North- 
ern Europe and America (i. e. the United States). The 
influence of the Evangelical churches, especially as con- 
cerns morals, has proved its failure in South America.” 


This criticism seems to be founded upon a confusion of 
two things which are fundamentally distinct: the natural 
ethical fruit of that personal contact with God. which con- 
stitutes the basal principle of the Evangelical faith, and 
the conduct of nations, institutions or individuals that are 
Protestant only in name. The efficacy of Evangelicalism 
as a character-producing force cannot fairly be judged 
except in human lives and institutions that live in accord- 
ance with its principles. The root trouble with many 
so-called Protestants and Protestant countries is simply 
that they have been unfaithful to the truths of the religion 
they profess. 

As to the reference made to the Bible, we feel bound to 
say that the criticism reveals a crass ignorance regarding 
the place of the Bible in the modern world. The Bible 
cannot be indicted because men refuse to accept the prin- 
ciples of Jesus and embrace the pagan principle of force. 
But since the late War, wistful minds in all parts of the 
world are turning to the teachings of this Book as the only 
volume which affords a solution to the problems of society. 
At the present time, more people are studying the Bible 
and guiding their lives by it than ever before. 

(c) As a religious failure-——A more serious indictment 
still is that of ‘“‘ An Unattached Christian Worker” in a 
document which has been circulated by the Committee on 


362 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


Cooperation. The document in question contains a veri- 
table philippic against the pretension of the organized 
Protestant churches to solve the religious problems of 
South America. The following are its chief theses: 


(1) That the Christian Church has a twofold function in 
the world: (a) Its primary objective is the moulding of 
individual character with a view to producing a perfectly 
socialized type, that is, a type which shall think in terms of 
the good of others and live for them. (b) Pursuit of this 
objective will lead to the establishment of the Kingdom of 
God on earth, that is to say, “a juster and more brotherly 
state of relationship. between men.’ The success of the 
Church in the discharge of this function will be determined 
by her study of the conditions that favor the Kingdom and 
those that are adverse to it, and at the same time, by her 
loyal support of all that is good, and opposition to all that 
is evil. 

(2) That neither the Roman Catholic nor the Protestant 
Church has a clear vision of the Church’s true function, and 
only in recent times has the essential Christian ideal been 
rediscovered and proclaimed. 

(3) That in recent years the Catholic Church in South 
America has faced the problems of society in the person of 
such ecclesiastics as Edwards in Chile and de Andrea in 
Argentina, and for that reason, the effort of Protestant Mis- 
sions on the continent should be directed towards strengthen- 
ing this aspect of the work of the Catholic Church, it being 
useless to think of pitting one Church organization against 
another. 

(4) That Protestantism originated as a purely theological 
movement and was not able to make headway in Roman 
Catholic countries in the sixteenth century, because of its 
exclusively theological aspect, which made it distasteful to 
peoples who had grown tired of theology. On the other 
hand, had such a movement as that of the Anabaptists or of 
the Quakers been known in Latin countries at the time of the 
Reformation, Protestantism in this form would undoubtedly 
have found acceptance and made progress. 

(5) That Protestant Missions at the present time give 
great prominence to minor doctrines which have no intrinsic 


EVANGELICAL WORK AND PROGRESS 363 
importance, especially for Latin Americans, and for that 
reason their work is very largely sterile. The Churches that 
support these Missions have more need of catching a vision 
for themselves of what the Kingdom of God means than of 
propagating in Latin America their dogmatic shibboleths and 
ecclesiastical institutions. 

(6) That the future of Christianity in South America is 
not bound up with ecclesiastics or with ecclesiastical organi- 
zations, but with lay workers. Christian endeavor should be 
directed towards intensifying every form of effort that makes 
for righteousness in both its ideological and practical aspects, 
and at the same time, create groups for the cultivation of the 
spiritual life. 


The Evangelical missionary movement owes a debt of 
gratitude to this ‘‘ Unattached Christian Worker ” for his 
frankness. His point of view is representative of that 
influential school of religious thinkers which holds that 
the chief function of religion is sociological; that institu- 
tional Christianity is outworn and has no future; that 
Christian doctrine has a purely subjective value. It is 
not the function of this Report to discuss these questions. 
We confine ourselves strictly to those points in the docu- 
ment under discussion which have a direct bearing on 

ur present subject. We second with enthusiasm the 
point of view that the Christian Church has a mission of 
healing to human society, and that the social aspect of the 
Christian message and the social side of the Christian 
obligation have too often been forgotten. We take issue, 
however, with the writer of the document on three prin- 
cipal matters. First, the Protestant Reformation was not 
on tts religious side the substitution of one style of theo- 
logical logomachy for another, Religiously it had two 
aspects. On the one hand, it was a revolt against every 
mediating influence, whether dogma, human person or in- 
stitution, which came between the living God and the 
human soul. On the other hand, it was a serious attempt 
to get back to primitive Christianity as that was portrayed 
in the Scriptures. The new principles exercised a pro- 
found influence not only on religious life but on political 
and social life as well. It is unfair to indict the Reform- 


364: SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


ers with not having seen at a glance all the social and 
other implications of their own principles, and with not 
having been able to anticipate the modern “ Back to 
Christ ”’ movement which is the child of subsequent gener- 
ations of research and thought. ‘They were men of their 
time, but their work was done on the highway of true 
religious and human progress. 

Secondly, st 1s not correct to say that representative 
Evangelical missions in South America exist mainly for 
the propagation of their own peculiar theological tenets 
and the imposition of their special ecclesiastical forms. 
What representative Evangelical missions are specially in- 
terested in propagating is not what is peculiar to each 
but what is commonto all. Their main object is to bring 
men into touch with the living Christ who can transform 
their lives. ‘There is, we believe, no denomination within 
the group of Churches that form the Committee on Co- 
operation in Latin America that would not be prepared 
to sacrifice any number of non-essentials in theological 
thought and ecclesiastical procedure in the interests of 
the greater cohesive unity and efficiency of the Evangelical 
movement as a whole. 

Thirdly, we believe that the formation of such religious 
groups as an “ Unattached Christian Worker” proposes 
as the solution of the religious problem of South Amersca 
has a place to fulfil in the religions of the continent. 
Such groups, with their loose organization, would attract 
persons who have deep spiritual experience and convic- 
tions who find nothing to satisfy them among the organ- 
ized churches as they know them. On the other hand, 
we do not believe that they would exercise any spiritual 
influence over the great masses of the people who will 
never be evangelized, never become citizens and servants 
of the Kingdom of God, never develop a full Christian 
experience save through the instrumentality of organized 
Christianity. The fact that there is a coming time when 
religion shall be fully laicised, when human society shall 
be so fully Christian that there shall be no need of any 
special temple, but ‘‘ the Lord God and the Lamb shall be 
the temple of it,’ does not mean that there is no place 
now for the special servant of Christ and the special place 


EVANGELICAL WORK AND PROGRESS 365 


of worship. Rather we believe that the glorious consum- 
mation of Christian endeavor will be brought about when 
the members of the Apostolic Succession of preachers and 
teachers and the entire group of specially consecrated 
buildings serve the end for which they exist, and prepare 
themselves and society for the day of their exit, when 
God shall be all and in all, 


3. The Basic Conditions of Evangelical Progress. 


We venture, in concluding this Report, to sketch what 
appear to us to be the basic conditions of Evangelical 
progress. If the Evangelical movement is to be a true 
organ of the purpose and power of God, two things are 
necessary from the human side, a prophetic spirit and an 
adequate embodiment. 

(a) A prophetic spirit—South America’s chief need is 
prophets, prophetic men and prophetic books, ‘The spoken 
and the written word are both required to make the oracles 
of the Eternal echo through every nook and cranny of 
individual and continental life. Fire-anointed lips like 
Isaiah’s and pens guided by an intimate experience of 
God and His will are the prime necessity. These, and 
these only, are capable of flashing new spiritual visions 
before the minds of men and of illuminating the sordid- 
ness of present conditions with the white majesty of 
purity and truth. 

(1) The first need is a new vision of sin. Sin as a 
bloodless theologic abstraction or ceremonial omission’ 
must give place to sin as a personal infraction of some 
eternal law of righteousness. What Puritan theologians 
called “law-work,”’ meaning the pricking of conscience 
by the application of God’s law, “which is exceeding 
broad,” is required to awaken the dormant sense of sin. 
Sins, secret and public, must be “set before the light of 
His countenance.” Evil in all its phases must be shown 
to stand in eternal opposition to the will of a holy and 
loving God. The meaning of holiness, human and divine, 
must be interpreted to the people in language they can 
understand. Isaiah, who saw God “high and lifted up” 
in the temple; the men whom Christ called “ whited 
sepulchres,” and those He drove from the temple courts; 


366 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


Peter, who denied his Master, and Judas, who betrayed 
him, must all be allowed to tell their stories. The King 
of Israel who violated the sanctity of a home and suffered 
ever after in his own; Lady Macbeth’s hand which all 
Arabia’s perfumes could not sweeten; a scarlet letter on a 
human breast; scars on children’s characters and faces, 
betokening parents’ sins; broken human earthenware jet- 
tisoned in one-room hovels or stinking prisons, must show 
the consequences of sin, one’s own or that of others. Ina 
word, Scripture and literature, art and science must be 
made vocal, to broadcast through South American lands 
the eternal distinction between right and wrong and the 
eternal connection between sin and suffering. 

(2) A new vision of Christ is a second necessity. The 
Jesus of pure tragedy, the “ Spanish Christ,” must be 
supplemented by that powerful Personality who burned 
with indignation when confronted with organized deceit 
and oppression stalking beneath the cloak of religion. At 
the same time the infinite tenderness of Jesus towards the 
sinful, the weak and the helpless, should receive equal 
emphasis. In a word, we believe that in South America 
the view of Christ which should be most constantly and 
vividly presented is that in which He appears in closest 
connection with sin. Let Him stand forth in the gospel 
message as the stern Judge of wanton evil, as the merci- 
ful Friend of struggling sinners, as the Divine Saviour 
whose passage through ‘Time was an event of redemptive 
significance and whose endless existence as the Exalted 
Lord guarantees the triumph of righteousness upon earth. 

(3) In close connection with a new view of Christ we 
would emphasize a new view of Christian discipleshsp. 
The fundamental relationship between believing and living 
should clearly be set forth. Stress should be laid upon 
the fact that a believer in Jesus Christ cannot live for 
himself; cannot fulfil his religious obligations by the 
fulfilment of mere rites; cannot relegate his religious con- 
victions to a wardrobe or a lumber room, to take them out 
only on special occasions. It should be made clear that 
for each Christian soul there is a self to be denied, a 
Master to be followed, a Cross to be borne, and a King- 
dom to be established, where God shall be all and in all, 


EVANGELICAL WORK AND PROGRESS 367 


and where His will shall be done on earth as it is in 
Heaven. 

(b) An adequate embodiment——The prophetic spirit 
to which we have referred must be adequately embodied 
in institutional forms. 

(1) The Evangelical movement should touch life at as 
many points as possible. This is necessary for two rea- 
sons: Firstly, because the movement is taken to represent 
civilizations which have been moulded by Evangelical 
thought and life, and secondly, because the Christian life 
should be expressed in connection with every legitimate 
form of human activity. In other words, it is necessary 
that as comprehensive a program as possible of mission- 
ary activity should be developed in order that the results 
of Christian faith in different aspects of life may lead the 
thoughts of men to the Christ who is the object and in- 
spirer of that faith. 

(2) The Evangelical movement should be as non- 
ecclesiastical as possible. The impression should not be 
given that iron-cast kinds of ecclesiastical organization are 
necessary for the production and development of Chris- 
tian character. Special effort should be made to avoid the 
imposition or perpetuation of ecclesiastical forms that do 
not belong to the essence of New Testament Christianity, 
and which may not be suitable for the development of 
Christian life in South America. This will mean that the 
idea must not be allowed to perpetuate itself in South 
America that Protestant denominations are no more than 
a set of warring organizations whose sole aim is their own 
elorification and aggrandizement. 

(3) The Evangelical movement should make provision 
for the delivery of a religious message without the ordt- 
nary trappings of a religious service. It is our conviction 
that the greatest opportunity of the present hour in South 
America is theirs who will deliver God’s message as it was 
once delivered by the sea of Galilee and on the Athenian 
Areopagus without any of the elements of worship. That 
is to say, what is known in Spanish as the “ conferencia 
sin culto,” should become one of the recognized institu- 
tions of the Evangelical movement. From all parts of the 
continent testimonies have come to the effect that the 


368 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


/simple unaccompanied presentation of the gospel by men 
who have the power to do so clearly, attractively and with 
passionate earnestness, will win a hearing anywhere. This 
kind of institution is particularly necessary on a continent 
where the traditional conception of religion is that it is 
separated by an impassable chasm from all thought and 
life that are worthy of the name. If the average South 
American regards religion as nothing more than ritual, he 
must be taught that in Christ’s religion form is a contin- 
gent, not a constitutive property, the expression of ‘spirit- 
ual life, not its substitute or creator. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 
I. PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT, 


Dr. Joun A. Mackay, or PERv. 


This Report discusses five great problems, every one of 
which is in a proper sense a religious problem. Most im- 
portant of these problems, the one at the basis of the solution 
of all, is what we may calla collective personality, the South 
American soul or religious consciousness. What is that soul 
and what are its needs? This is a question not easily an- 
swered. The Report affords a fine study of the cultured 
Latin mind. We are dealing, however, with three classes in 
South America, (1) the highly cultured section, (2) the 
semi-civilized, uneducated mixed population, and (3) the 
uncultured Indians. The Report is right in emphasizing the 
first class, since it is easily the directive and dominant class. 

The Roman Church constitutes a special problem, because 
it is the all powerful traditional force with which the Evan- 
gelical Church must reckon. Still other forces such as 
Theosophy, Spiritism and the like are taken into account by 
the Report, but they are only side issues. Let us ask how 
the churches are to face all these problems. ‘The answer is 
in two ways, by a new point of departure and by a new 
crusade. 

(1) As to our evangelistic point of departure, it is clear 
that we need to make a fresh survey of each field and to get 
at the real facts. Such a course will prevent missionaries 
from misjudging their people and will enable them to deter- 
mine how to carry on institutional work for each people. 
Fach race has its own psychology. Again we note that it is 
needful to recognize many spiritual viewpoints other than 
our own. Altruism is displacing exploitation. Even Spirit- 
ism and Theosophy are evidences that the spirit of God is at 
work, wrongly directed, of course, but manifesting the desire 
of men to have a friend in the universe. 

As for the Roman Church, thinking minds have come to 
the conclusion that it affords no thorough solution for human 
spiritual problems nor is likely to do so. There is no Chris- 
tian term in common use which it has not distorted or viti- 


369 


370 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


ated. It is too thoroughly occupied with ecclesiasticism to 
contribute to the needs of the masses. 

(2) As to our new crusade, it will consist of the intelligent 
facing of these problems. (a) They must be faced in the 
right spirit, unitedly, with loyalty to the living Christ and 
with His love in our hearts. When we begin to identify our 
varied interests in this way, we will supremely love one 
another. (b) We must accept all the consequences of loving 
Christ and of loving one another. Without such a spirit 
cooperation becomes merely mechanical, a scheme only, not 
a flaming spirit, not a whit better than an international treaty. 
We must distinguish unity from uniformity. The true idea 
of Christian unity is to think ourselves one in Christ, “ re- 
solving to love” and taking the consequences. (c) Our 
message should be prophetic. People are tired of the priestly 
message about the Christ who was. It should emphasize 
personal sin and everything in life that is not in accordance 
with the mind of Christ. This can be done concretely by 
pointing out social and individual cases of sin in the light of 
God’s law. In our churches there seems to be an insufficient 
sense of personal sin. We are so absorbed in the doctrines 
that sin is forgotten and the result is pride. We must present 
the cross not as a tragedy, but as the greatest triumph of our 
Lord. We can overcome human sin through loving Christ 
so that evil will disappear in the light of His power. 

As a part of the crusade, we must develop two new forms 
of evangelism. (1) Public preaching, conferences, etc. 
Without the use of liturgy or trappings, our simple message 
would be that religion is a life and that the gospel gives 
power. We must meet men face to face, giving the living 
word of the living Christ to living men. (2) Especially 
selected men must work with those who have a wrong con- 
ception of Christianity. These groups are floating around in 
every city. Such may be gradually introduced to the per- 
sonal Christ who renews life. Let the subsequent form 
which their religious life takes grow out of that contact 
with Christ. 


II. Tue Roman CatHoric CHuRCH. 


Rev. Dr. Juan Orts Gonzales, of New York, said that the 
Roman Catholic Church can be compared to a chameleon and 
a leopard. Like the former, it can change in some respects. 
In England and in the United States, it advocates the sepa- 
ration of Church and State, in Spain it advocates centraliza- 
tion. It stands for separation or control as the case may be. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 371 


It is also like a leopard which is said never to change its 
spots. There is no possibility of any theological changes in 
the Roman Catholic Church. ‘Those Protestants who look 
forward to some sort of final union will be disappointed. We 
must distinguish between doctrines and practices. Roman 
Catholic doctrines are usually quite good. They differ but 
little from Protestant doctrines. Romanists regard the Bible 
as inspired, but by their doctrine and interpretation make 
that discovery of little account. 

As a Church, we cannot expect Roman Catholicism to 
cooperate in any real way with Protestantism. As individ- 
uals, there may be many dealings with Roman Catholics. 
Roman Catholics as individuals are better than the system. 
(a) This improvement is not due to fear or cowardice. It is 
because of a finer conception of tolerance and liberty. It is 
found mostly in America, where a distinction is made be- 
tween Roman Catholic individuals and the doctrines of the 
Roman Catholic Church. (b) We should distinguish always 
between doctrine and practise. The invocation of saints is 
innocent from some angles, but awful in its real import. 
People cease to be Christian because they lose all connection 
between belief and practise. We should be careful as Evan- 
gelicals when discussing Roman Catholic belief in the Virgin 
Mary, to do this with all respect. 

Rev. Elias Marqués, of Spain, was in hearty agreement 
with Dr. Gonzales. The Roman Catholic Church adapts 
itself to all, yet it will never change its skin. Evangelicals 
must always distinguish between the Church itself and the 
people who belong to it. The Church never has and never 
will change. Real cooperation with it is impracticable, but 
with individuals all sorts of cooperation is possible. 

The Roman Catholic Church will always persecute and 
destroy forward movements which are seeking some form 
of liberty. The Evangelical method should be to try to reach 
individual Catholics and to give them the pure gospel. 

Rev. Alvaro Reis declared that the Roman Catholic Church 
is a unity because it is whatever the pope chooses to be. He 
is not only pope, but he is the council and the church. This 
idea of unity through one personality is scripturally unsound. 
We think of God as a unity, but also we think of Him as 
acting in a three-fold way. The power of the Evangelical 
Church is in the bringing together into a working unity of 
many minds and purposes with Christ as a leader. 

Much has been said in the discussion against dogma. It is 
easy to make an argument out of the use of a word. Creed- 


372 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


less churches, however, amount to nothing, but the creed 
must be a positive one, not a negative. The creed of Rome 
is of no significance, since it deals particularly with papal 
prerogatives. 

There can be no real cooperation with the Roman Catholic 
Church as such. The viewpoints of the leaders are too di- 
vergent. One can have many Roman Catholic friends and 
yet find it almost impossible to work together in real har- 
mony. The Romanist always assumes that his church must 
have the right of way. Sincere Romanists, of course, often 
recognize that Evangelicals have truth on their side. This 
is because they are not good Romanists, neither believing in 
many of the dogmas of that Church nor going to confession. 
It seems to many that the only unity that is of any value 
involves a real unity of the spirit, ..... it must be sub- 
jective. This does not mean a complete uniformity. It leaves 
every type of mind free to contribute in its own way, but 
there must be a real desire to get together or unity is 
impossible. . 


Iil.. Latin AMERICANS OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. 


Mr. A. E. Turner, of Chile (Y. M. C. A.), desired to make 
a plea for Latin Americans who are outside of the churches. 
Many of these are men who hold a large section of the 
wealth of each country, who are interested in its progress, 
in the welfare of the people and in social improvement. 
These men are often as Christian in their lives as men in the 
Church. They are the men who are on the M. E. A. Com- 
mittees. They need the Church and the Church needs them. 
They will not join the Roman Catholic Church and for many 
reasons do not care to join the Protestant churches. To 
reach them, we must do as Dr. Mackay suggested, giving 
religious training without the accompaniment of ritual. 


Rev. R. D. Daffin, of Brazil, expressed his sympathy with 
Mr. Turner and others who try to reach certain influential 
men. Most of them he regarded as moral cowards who do 
not wish to enter the Protestant churches, because their 
wives, or their mistresses, or their sporting friends, or their 
political friends, or their secretaries urge them not to do so. 
Work must be done among such people, but they should be 
preached the pure gospel and assured that only those will be 
accepted as members of an Evangelical Church who are 
willing to make a public confession of faith in Christ, Until 
ready to do this, they are not entitled to be regarded as 
Evangelicals, not even as Christians. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 373 


Mr. Harry E. Ewing, of Buenos Aires (Y. M. C. A.), re- 
ferred to the fact that for fifteen years he had cultivated the 
closest of relations with students and with men in public 
life, all of whom had been more or less friendly. ‘To some 
of them he had been especially close, testing often the spir- 
itual longing of these youths for spiritual truth and for 
moral betterment. They reveal themselves when they are 
sure of our desire to render them real service and to meet 
the needs of their country. We need to run the whole gamut 
of human need in opening up to them the problems which 
ought to occupy their lives. ‘There is the abandoned boy or 
the delinquent boy or the immigrant or the victim of any 
kind of social wrong. It is a great advantage for the: Chris- 
tian worker to live in the community where his own people 
live. He will quickly realize that this greatly enlarges his 
influence. When we do some form of good to the com- 
munity and truly help its youth, we certainly are following 
in the foot-path of Christ. . 


IV. Men with Curistian. IDEALS. 


Rev. W. E. Wintemute, of Bolivia (Canadian Baptist), 
asked what can be done for the men who have Christian 
ideals, but are not in our churches. The hearts of such men 
are opened to us today. They desire to know us well, what 
we preach and what we practice. A lawyer in Lalaz said, 
not long ago, “I respect Protestantism, but I hate Christian- 
ity.” ‘There are many who do not know that these are one 
and the same. 

There should be men who will dedicate themselves to work 
among these people. Why do they not come to our churches? 
The reason is that the people who do customarily attend are 
of a different class. These intellectuals do not care to mix 
with the crowd. If we wish to reach them, we must reach 
them directly and in their own way. 

Rev. J. F. Jenness, of the Union Church, Santiago, Chile, 
spoke of a wedding at which President Allesandri, of Chile, 
was present and declared to the company that he was a 
great friend of the Protestants who were doing an important 
work for Chile, who even seemed to him to be more sincere 
than the Catholics. He also related the fact that when the 
Union Church was gathering funds recently, the president 
sent a letter of hearty encouragement to a public meeting 
held at the Young Men’s Christian Association. A few more 
men of conscience and courage such as President Allesandri 
would be of great assistance to the Evangelical cause. 


374 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


The Rev. George Goulart, of Brazil, felt impelled to discuss 
the relations between Evangelical Churches in South Amer- 
ica and the Young Men’s Christian Association. He de- 
clared that there was a large opportunity for real misunder- 
standing between the pastors and the secretaries that might 
well result in great harm for both. There is little wisdom 
in over-estimating the social work of the Y. M. C. A., nor is 
there any good reason for under-estimating it. The speaker 
referred to the case of a fine Christian young man of his 
acquaintance who became identified with the Association at 
Rio. After a while he wrote back that he had lost his old 
religion, but when he came home a frank and friendly dis- 
cussion made it clear that he had only modified his views. 
He still read the Bible and found that it was of great help 
to him. In this case his own original impression was, of 
course, entirely wrong. 


Prof. Benjamin H. Hunnicutt, of Lavaras, remarked that 
the experience related by Mr. Goulart proves that constant 
conference as well as friendly cooperation is necessary as 
between different agencies who are at work among the youth 
of any country. These agencies have their own viewpoints 
and lines of emphasis. Between these there are differences, 
but not necessarily contradictions. A friendly conference 
around a table is often the best method of getting together. 


V. SocrAL PRopLEMs. 


Rev. Samuel Valenzuela, of Chile (M. E.), discussed the 
problem of illegitimacy, so real in Latin American countries. 
It is due in part to the fact that men move here and there, 
abandoning their families. They do this freely, not recog- 
nizing any binding relationship and wholly ignoring the civil 
law because of the antagonistic attitude of the Church. To 
them the only permanent and sacred marriage is a marriage 
sanctioned by the Church. Many of them avoid this because 
of expense, yet curiously in many cases when a husband or 
wife, being brought face to face with the truth, desires to 
legitimatize their union, one or the other objects. Public 
sentiment needs training, but at present there is a very seri- 
ous social problem caused by the multitudes of abandoned 
women and children. 

The Evangelical churches which are really successful have 
also an active religious propaganda to face. The Roman 
Church leaders, from the press, the pulpit and the confes- 
sional, wield a great power. They seem to have plenty of 
money for literature, and this fact emphasizes our own need 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 375 


for an abundance of Evangelical tracts and Bibles for 
counter use. 


VI. THE Crosk oF THE Discussion. 


Sr. Figueroa, of Chile (P. N.), said that of the various 
aspects brought out in this discussion, two or three are ex- 
tremely important. One is the problem of racial compre- 
hension. Evangelical work cannot succeed unless the 
Christian message is fully understood. Missionaries and 
pastors alike should give much time to the study of heredi- 
tary tendencies and cultural influences, in order that the 
message that they proclaim may be fully comprehended. 

Another is the Roman Church. It is not fair to forget the 
splendid missionary record of that Church. Heroic Jesuits 
went far into the interior and rendered unselfish service at 
the risk of life. Our quarrel with Roman Catholicism is not 
based on any other ground than its present failure to actually 
meet the needs of its people. It seems to regard personality 
as more powerful than principles or ideals, a judgment which 
is not at all in accordance with that of the Evangelical 
Church. We have only one personality whom we follow 
without question, and that is Christ. 

Again we should carefully study the result of certain 
tendencies given to the race by heredity. Several writers 
maintain that the sense of sin has never been cultivated in 
Iberian races. Certainly the Roman Catholic Church has 
never instilled the idea that sin is morally evil, The Roman 
Church has a keen legal consciousness of sin. Sin to the 
Roman Catholic is something that can and must be settled 
for in view of all circumstances. It is a lapse from a stand- 
ard. When an Evangelical speaker talks about Jesus Christ 
as a saviour from sin, a South American audience wonders 
what he means. Our most important Evangelical problem 
today is to awaken a real sense of sin. 


THE FINDINGS 


1. In order that Christian workers in South America may 
be in a position to identify themselves as closely as possible 
with the national life and to understand national problems 
and aspirations, we recommend that special opportunities be 
afforded them for the study of Roman Catholicism and of 
South American history, literature and sociology. 

2. In view of the misconceptions prevailing in South 
America with regard to the true nature of religion, and the 
rooted prejudices which in consequence of these misconcep- 
tions characterize the attitude of multitudes of people 
towards the liturgic aspect of Christianity, it appears to us 
desirable that the “conferencia sin culto” should be em- 
ployed as a recognized method of evangelism, when by so 
doing the gospel could be presented to people for whom the 
ordinary type of religious service is without appeal. 

3. In view also of the fact that there exist in all large 
centers groups of people belonging especially to the educated 
classes who, while being sincere Christians or being inter- 
ested in Christianity in a general way, are not disposed to 
associate themselves with any of the existing churches, we 
recommend that specially prepared men be set apart to work 
with these groups with a view to leading them to a full 
experience of Christ, and by gradual and natural stages lead 
them to a full outward expression of their faith. 

4. In order to deepen the consciouness of sin in the minds 
of the people, we recommend that very special attention be 
given to the presentation of moral and social obligation in 
the light of the principles of Jesus Christ, so that each one 
may judge himself in accordance with the mind of Christ and 
recognize his personal guilt and responsibility, and so be led 
to seek divine strength to enable him to fulfill his duty. 

5. We consider that the propagation of spiritism and the- 
osophy in several South American countries, together with 
the new interest in the religious problem which has been 
noted in this Report, are evidence of a reaction against 
materialism and of a deep-seated sense of loneliness and 
desire for spiritual companionship, and that this constitutes 
a call for a fresh interpretation of the place that belongs to 
Jesus Christ in all constructive thought on human problems 


376 


THE FINDINGS 377 
and of His sufficiency to meet all the yearnings of the 
human heart. 

6. We further consider that the present moment calls for 
a fresh presentation of the cross of Christ, not so much as a 
symbol of the Master’s fate, but rather as a symbol of His 
triumph over the forces of organized evil, and at the same 
time as the symbol for every Christian of whole-hearted 
loyalty to God and truth, and of death to every unworthy 
passion and ambition while he lives for the coming of God’s 
Kingdom on earth. 


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THE REPORT OF COMMISSION TWELVE 
ON 
COOPERATION AND UNITY 


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Contents 


I, Forcks WorkK1NG TowarD UNITY............-. 387 
1, The Essential Unity of the Church,.......... 387 
2. Universal and National Movements ‘Toward 

Unity We Saer tire ss settee s sa eae 388 
(a) The Conference on Faith and Order..... 388 
(b) The Union Movement in Canada........ 389 
Coy Union mm Crinarand Japan i, ve. ao 389 
(d) The South India United Church......... 389 
3. Cooperative Movements Among the Churches. 390 
Capi ine? Ieederarieounecn: soos vee vee wn cree 390 
(b) The’ liternational? Codnell 72 eb... 392 
(c) The World Alliance for” International 
IPT LEIHISMIDurtere Tre cate t er ony | inieai srs 392 
(d) The Conference on Life and Work...... 392 
CeyeinternationaltAiiances ie. as cats slats 393 
4. Cooperation in Foreign Mission Fields....... 393 
CDN Ne Orvisione Ole OP erritOr vine si gst welale ey 393 
(b)> National Christian Councils) ut fc .7.. 394 
CoyesantaDominvoutcuty tito was eke vaarde 394 
5. Doctrinal Differences as Affecting Cooper- 
AEG) VIN An a a FN er Vey A go oe tld ee 3294 
6. Missionary Relationships 30.52. Vie tee el 396 


7. Relations with the Roman Catholic Church... 397 


Il. THe CoMMITTEE ON COOPERATION IN LATIN 


PO MERICA GT Shue eae eae G's eile Ofer tan UNG. e AN RUIN Yr rq 398 
1. The History of the Organization of the Com- 
TITLES Be ree fae (IE ov, Tdi wale EPA G68 399 
2. The British Section of the Committee........ 401 
3. The American Section of the Committee...... 402 
(a) List Righer@biectivesua cuss me ce wets oui 402 
COWLES GR AIONMERLS i vwa aia Aire cum ts os Lk 403 
(c) Its Service,.to. the “Americas... 00.560... 404 
(d) Results Which it Has Attained.......... 406 
Division of Territorial Responsibility.... 406 
Union institutions’ Preis ne apy eine bss Ihe 406 


381 


882 CONTENTS 

Literatures sili. emisce ate tae aesioce 5 anaes 407 
Temperance «Work (ijk igs nie ote oes 408 
Religiouswidtication v2, coke eee 409 
Work: Amoogelndians).ircie a. 7. eee 409 

The Faculty of Theology and the Social 
SCIENCES EIA TECH obo vis's tie nce © olerm peters 409 
Special bunds, +. sdssiis ea aa linet ener 410 
(e) The New Situation in Latin America.... 410 
IIT, Recronar, COMMITTEES IN. SOUTH AMERICA..... 4il 
I, Progress in Cooperation Since I1916.......... 412 
Ca) SEA ZiL hdr iee cis) aapite epee lyst sus id tipnabtant ne 412 
I, in World, Relationships ; ....i%. oss) s.s- 412 
2. In Denominational Attitudes ......... 412 
CD) Obi ear acids alles D tates Tein otk Me tana ne 413 
wi eae aWorld, Relationshing en oe eee 413 
2. In Denominational Attitudes ......... 413 

(c) River Plate, Region—Argentina, Para- 
Bue y a LITA yr ig hin 6 eds ahays easiatele vant eee 414 
1.. In Wotid Relationships, as25, voc os eats 414 
2. In Denominational Attitudes ......... 414 
Cd): Vieneziela ia ab a's bie meshed loi aia teeta 415 
1. in... World BKelationsiaps..) ta. nae eae 415 
2. In Denominational Attitudes.......... 416 
2. Cooperative Enterprises Already Sanctioned.. 416 
(a): Brazil. sre estes sues selandyeud We pide eae te one 416 
(1) A Central Office in Rio de Janeiro... 416 
(2) Educational Enterprises ..,..,...-- 416 
(3)" Likerature ee cs sous, electra ie eens 417 
(4); Conterence gor Students... secieah eer 417 
(5) EROSPIEALS ee ee ale idins st Siete ie ie ene 418 
(6) Other Union Enterprises .........0. 418 
Ch) PTT te wise erehisialetocy's ates sere eee elke ta eee ee anne 419 
(c) “ChevRiver Plater Region’ <5) o:ose eee 419 
Cd)  Veneziela eas: . celal nly cian. eae nee 420 
3. The Cooperative Enterprises Needed......... 420 
Cay TALI st a's chet eng get chen ra ane 420 
(1) International Church Gatherings ... 420 
(2): Cooperation in’ Edycation ’.../...... 420 

(3) The Graduate Faculty of Theology 
ANG POCA CIeNCe: . eae sas teen 421 
(4 Pie anevare School ire. ates ane 421 
(5) Summer Conterénces ei tl ee 421 
Cb Chile a tyr Beas ee Cy Ce tel vee ree 421 


C2) o Lastitutes ep i cect mene th eat 421 


CONTENTS 383 


(2) Metropolitan Organization ......... 421 
(3) Therlanguage School ..7.)......... 422 
(4) Summer Conferences .............. 422 
(5) Friendly Relations Among All Evan- 
gvolical Ghatches! i. Masta, hk. 422 
(6) Cooperation in Education .../...... 422 
¢c) -The River Plate Repion yk. ke. 422 
(1) The Graduate Factlty of Theology.. 422 
(2) An Evangelical Hospital ........... 423 
(3) Union Educational Plants .......... 423 
(4) Union Organizations for Printing 
and ‘bustribitwon's. 2.200 bee... t. 423 
(5): Union -Conferencés?)2-1 2. ale... 424 
(6) EBvanvelical''Péderation '..)......... 424 
(7) International Church Gatherings ... 424 
Cd o Veneziclavunenre ser nie cumew en, or 8 ink 424 
(1) Language Schoot:::..’ Dice Mem Wah ab 425 
(2) -Suminer Conterences: yore ii. 425 
(3) Representatives at International 
Crater Guumepu rien, Sarin esa ey cals 425 
(AjaCooperative (Hh ducation vie ae. 4 425 
4. Cooperation Among the Churches ........... 425 
OUTS SEV ATA Pn ead SelB ed ae aN GUGM RE ea 425 
(1) Union, Meetings ......seneenne cere 425 
(2) Cooperation in Moral Reform ...... 426 
(3), National, Convocations ;. .44. «9.2.4. 426 
(4) Enlarged Usefulness of the Regional 
Committee on Cooperation.......... 426 
(5) Increased Usefulness of the Commit- 
TOG OTA COODETANON a ade ph kes +s 427 
AR LG eR Fenland Sate WON Yu OMe a, oe ae 427 
(1) Union Meetings ....seceeseeeeeeee 427 
(2) Cooperation in Moral Reform and in 
Religious, LASKkS sive dd aot)» fhe si 427 
(ay eNational. Conferences: sre hes ses 428 
(4) Enlarged Usefulness of the Regional 
EOL TTCE St aoa hls pall Cue GOR dhnde (oh a 428 
(5) Increased Usefulness of the Commit- 
PeenOte GOOPEraiOnny sacle ee mn! se es 428 
(iC PORIVe om laten RESTON dill dy a eMule 9s x 62,4 429 
(1) Cooperation in Moral Reform...... 429 
(2) An Executive Secretary for ‘the Re- 
gidtial Committee’. 7 bag 429 
Cay mVentanelaaiinige Ore DORR OD a. 430 


(1) Union Meetingsn?. panei 2... ah... 430 


384 CONTENTS 

(2) Evangelistic Campaigns ........... 430 
(3) The Regional Committee .......... 430 

(4) The Committee on Cooperation in 
Latins Americas yiisth olny). seas 430 
5. Cooperation with Other Forces ............. 430 
(2) Beazer Wri Rie hus Wd irate ane 430 
(1) Governmental Cooperation ......... 430 
(2),\) Social tRetormsy ic ad dit. bess cee 431 
Cb) Chikessawia te Pina cteten wahticst thts cea a) tis ace ee 432 
(1) Governmental Cooperation ......... 432 
(2) CapttalaandsDaboriawe ia wie. eee 432 
(c)U River PlatewRegtonaua stk.) Melee tege 433 
(d) Wenezuelan iva sie aasivitt «0 aac cere tan 433 
(1) Governmental Cooperation ......... 433 
6. Ways of Promoting a Spirit of Cooperation... 433 
(a) eBragi cae) RNa oy oh ee 433 
Cb) Ghile Poet ci ak il ae aay ily cee 434 
(c) “Thet River: PlatesRegiony sou. ye. eee 435 
Cds VONEZITE] AGES Mle acetals steals Shalteeen ee tee 436 
IV. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR PEACE........ 436 
1. The Need of a Christian World Order........ 437 
2.hundamental Hactors <5). vines) ec oer 438 

(a) All the Nations of the World Extraordi- 
narily Interdependent .6. yuu vu ee ee 438 
(b) Each Absolutely Independent Politically.. 438 
(c) The Growth of Population ............. 438 
Cd) Secret lbinigniaey ss fc. ait, tale eee eee 438 
(e) The Existence of Nations............... 438 
(fy ‘Tenorance of Bach” Other...) n,n 439 

(g) The Capitalistic Organization of Modern 
Socket yt) wee cess hee es ae 439 
(h) The Spirit of Greed and Selfishness..... 439 
(i) Our Modern Industrial System.......... 439 
(j) #Partisan(Poliiesp yur ire ot rene cee 439 
3. A ‘Great: Educational ask. ) iio). 30h eee 439 
aA’ Cooperatives Dasa vice reba a eee 440 
5. The Distinctive Function of the Churches.... 440 
V. PRINCIPLES! AND: ‘PROBLEMS 54% 11is..'))0 ole 20's. vos bie 441 
1, Conference the Secret of Cooperation........ 442 
2. The Proper Administration of Union Projects. 444 


3. 


The Place of the Committee on Cooperation in 


Union Administration ii ,-.5.5.--.--++- 445 


CONTENTS 385 


4. Improvement in the Machinery of Cooper- 


AE OU aya tle he AM Ea as TSP Chane Ri edaNe take aca 447 

RTE PNACOUAL COGLEEALION y« witestaY x tales te a as 449 

Welee i CON CEUSEON ae ette kitss ly craters: din tek ede ghar ti pucie tes 449 

WV Ll cD YSQUSSION( OF THE REPORT ue dole ue Ser cist ules 451 

DeLee ee HINDIN GSi pais ea ad ahs. a Ahtore Woy hees ig 4 oles wes 460 
APPENDIX 


DELEGATES AND VISITORS TO THE CONGRESS ON 
CHRISTIAN WorRK IN SOUTH AMERICA........ 462 


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COOPERATION AND UNITY 


I. Forcks WorkKING Towarp Unity 


1. The Essential Unity of the Church, 


In discussing the subject of church unity it is STAGE 
to observe the distinction between unity and uniformity. 
The unity of the Church of Christ, composed of all those 
throughout the ages who have been redeemed by His 
blood, is a great spiritual fact. Because there is but one 
redeeming Christ, one regenerating Spirit, and one God 
and Father of all whose family the Church is, there can, 
of course, in this sense be only one Church. 

. All the members of this one Church who, at any given 

time, are on the earth constitute what we call ‘‘ The Visible 
Church.” For the reason given above this visible Church 
is also spiritually one; and for it the expression of this 
unity in some external and visible form is the divine ideal 
for which our Saviour prayed, and which, therefore, must 
ultimately come to pass. It is an ideal, however, that has 
never yet been fully realized. In the very first churches 
planted by the Apostles divisions occurred, which were 
only temporarily settled by Apostolic authority, to break 
out again in later times and culminate in the schism be- 
tween the East and the West, and in the factions which 
prevented both branches of the divided Church from 
achieving a complete internal unity. 

The long and persistent attempt. of the Roman Church 
to maintain an outward uniformity by external authority, 
and.at the price of freedom of thought and conscience, 
finally resulted, at the time of the Reformation, in a vio- 
lent and explosive reaction, which not only separated 
Protestantism from Romanism, but which continued and 
was prolonged until the Protestant Church itself grew not 
as a unity but as a series of religious units. 

There are some who contend that the Eesomiiacentl 


387 


388 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


divisions of Protestantism are the necessary price to be 
paid for the blessing of freedom of thought and con- 
science. It can scarcely be maintained, however, that 
there are enough “distinctive principles’ to justify the 
existence of more than a hundred and fifty independent 
denominational churches to represent and witness for 
them. The divisive movement in Protestantism has un- 
questionably gone to an unnecessary and hurtful extreme. 
The inconvenience and loss resulting from it has been 
more and more acutely felt as the churches have come 
into competitive relations in their efforts to occupy the 
territory at home, and as they become more and more 
conscious of their responsibility for evangelizing the 
regions beyond. ‘The whole modern movement for a 
united Protestantism has unquestionably received its 
greatest impetus from our foreign missionary work. 
Among the many blessings coming to the home churches 
from their foreign work the greatest have been the rebuke 
administered to the sectarian spirit in these churches and 
the catholic temper it has helped to create. 


2. Universal and National Movements Toward Unity. 


(a) The Conference on Faith and Order——An impor- 
tant world movement at present looking to the reunion of 
Christendom on a common basis of doctrine and order is 
“The World Conference on Faith and Order,” which 
originated at the National Convention of the American 
Protestant Episcopal Church, in October, 1910. That 
Church still retains the leadership of the movement, but 
eighty-three other denominations are now participating in 
it, and have appointed representatives on its commissions. 
The attainment of this goal is manifestly remote, and 
some of the difficulties to be overcome seem at present 
almost insuperable. Should they ultimately prove to be 
so, it is nevertheless true that the movement has already 
accomplished much good in bringing the Churches repre- 
sented in it into closer relations of Christian brotherhood, 
and in strengthening the bonds of spiritual unity among 
them. 

A number of National union movements have occurred 
in recent years, in some of which results which in the 


FORCES WORKING TOWARD UNITY = 389 


beginning were believed to be impossible have actually 
been achieved. 

(b) The Unton Movement in Canada.—Conspicuous 
among these is the recent union of the Methodist, Presby- 
terian and Congregational Churches of Canada. It took 
repeated conferences through twenty years to bring this 
about, with the ultimate result of revealing to all con- 
cerned that their differences in polity were quite largely 
in the names of officers and governing bodies; while the 
careful comparison of their creeds revealed a hitherto un- 
suspected agreement in all the essentials of the evangelical 
faith. Some legal and governmental questions remain to 
be adjusted. 

(c) Unton in China and Japan.—The demand for union 
in the indigenous churches on mission fields has in recent 
years been growing more and more insistent. In China 
there has been a consolidation of all the different Anglican 
bodies into one Church. The various separated branches 
of the Presbyterian Church have been organized into 
one General Assembly, into which the Congregational 
Churches, embracing both those founded by the London 
Missionary Society and those founded by the American 
Board, are considering entrance. In Japan, all branches 
of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches at work in 
the country are united in one body called “ The Church 
of Christ in Japan.” All branches of the Methodist 
Church in Japan also now constitute a single Church. 

(d) The South India United Church-—In Southern 
India, in 1908, the congregations connected with the Lon- 
don Missionary Society, the American Board, the two 
Scotch Presbyterian Churches and the Dutch Reformed 
Church, formed “The South India United Church”; a 
similar movement is now in progress in northern India. 
An effort is being made to bring the churches connected 
with the Anglican Mission in South India into the United 
Church, but there, as elsewhere, difficulties growing out 
of differing views regarding the ministry and the sacra- 
ments have emerged that have not yet been fully overcome. 

Some of these cases illustrate only the union of the 
separated branches of the same denominational family, 
but they are all a part of the great world movement 


390 ~~ COOPERATION AND UNITY > 


towards the restoration of Church unity. Many other 
such movements are in progress in various parts of the 
world which we have not space here to describe. 

In regard to the movement toward unity in general it 
may be said that the outlook on the whole is not discour- 
aging. It is characteristic of all great movements that 
they have slow beginnings and gather momentum and 
speed as they progress toward their goal. The facts men- 
tioned above would seem to make it not unreasonable to 
hope that at no very distant date the true people of God 
of every name and place will have come to realize the 
fact of their oneness in Christ, and will have found a way 
to manifest this oneness in some visible form. 


3. Cooperative Movements Among the Churches. 


The state of the world is such, and the problems con- 
fronting our workers on the mission field which can only 
be solved by united action are so numerous, that aggres- 
sive Christianity cannot afford to await the actual reunion 
of the Churches before attacking these problems by united 
action, wherever such action is possible. 

(a) The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in 
America.—In the national field, the most important devel- 
opment in interdenominational cooperation was the organ- 
ization, in 1908, of ‘f The Federal Council of the Churches 
of Christ in America” by the official action of twenty-nine 
evangelical denominations. ‘The governing bodies of the 
Council are made up of the representatives appointed by 
the constituent denominations themselves. In addition, 
the Lutheran Church is a “ consultative member ” and the 
Protestant Episcopal Church cooperates through its “ So- 
cial Service Department.” The purposes of the Council, 
as defined in the Constitution, include the following: 


1. To express the fellowship and catholic unity of the 
Christian Church. 

2i'o bring the Christian bodies of America into united 
service for Christ and the world. 

B.ido encourage devotional fellowship and mutual counsel 
concerning the spiritual life and religious activities of 
the churches, 


FORCES WORKING TOWARD UNITY _ 391 


4. To secure a larger combined influence for the churches 
of Christ in all matters affecting the moral. and social 
condition of the people, so as to promote the application 
of the law of Christ in every relation of human life. 


In addition to developing the increasing spirit of unity 
through interdenominational conferences of many kinds, 
the Council is engaged in an extensive program of active 
service in behalf of the churches. Through its Commis- 
sion on Evangelism, it secures a cooperative program of 
pastoral evangelism on the part of the various denomina- 
tions in order to make a stronger impact upon the com- 
munity as a whole. The Council’s program in the field 
of social service has been especially notable. The adoption 
of the so-called social creed of the churches by the Coun- 
cil at its first meeting in 1908, and its activities in bringing 
the influence of the churches more unitedly to bear upon 
social problems have shown that the churches can by 
combined effort strongly influence public, opinion. The 
most conspicuous field of. the Council’s service at the 
present time is probably in the field of international 
justice and goodwill. It has been the channel through 
which the churches have expressed themselves with un- 
usual effectiveness on such issues. as: war and_ peace, 
American entrance into the permanent court of interna- 
tional justice, a more friendly method of dealing with 
immigration from Japan, and other important issues. A 
recent development of a. Department of Research and 
Education has the purpose of securing and publishing 
authoritative information on social, racial and interna- 
tional questions in the light of the Christian principles 
at stake. 

In addition to serving as a center for cooperation 
among the churches on a national scale, the Council assists 
in developing local federations or councils through which 
the churches of the community may deal more efficiently 
with their own local problems. 

The question whether the time has arrived when such 
an organization might be found helpful in the work of the 
Evangelical churches of Latin America, is commended to 
the consideration of the Congress. 


392 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


(b) The International Council—In the International 
field, the most important development in this connection 
was the organization, at a conference of delegates from 
the various National missionary organizations of Europe 
and America, held at Crans, Switzerland, in the summer 
of 1920, of the “ International Missionary Council.” ‘This 
body is composed of delegates selected by the National 
organizations. Provision is made for coopting repre- 
sentatives from Latin America. 

(c) The World Alliance for International Friendship.— 
The World Alliance for International Friendship Through 
the Churches was organized in Constance, Germany, in 
August, 1914, by a group of Christian leaders of the 
Churches of Europe and America which had been called 
together by the Church Peace Union. Its purpose is as 
follows: 


“To organize the religious forces of the world so that the 
weight of all churches and Christians can be brought to bear 
upon the relations of governments and peoples to the end 
that the spirit of peace and goodwill may prevail, and that 
there may be substituted arbitration for war in the settle- 
ment of international disputes; friendship in place of sus- 
picion and hate; cooperation instead of ruinous competition; 
and a spirit of service and sacrifice rather than that of greed 
and gain in all transactions between the nations.” 


There are Councils of the World Alliance in the follow- 
ing countries: Norway, Holland, Hungary, Japan, Italy, 
Finland, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Roumania, 
Sweden! Esthonia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Switzerland, 
France, Greece, Spain, Austria, Czecho- Slovakia, Portu- 
gal, Lettland, Serb-Croat-Slovene state, Turkey, China, 
and the United States of America. 

The work of establishing National Councils is still 
going on, and it is hoped that within a year or two there 
will be a Council in every country in the world, where 
there is a Christian church. 

(d) The Conference on Life and Work.—Another im- 
portant international movement is “The World Confer- 
ence on the Life and Work of the Church,” which is 


FORCES WORKING TOWARD UNITY — 393 


planned to be held in Stockholm, Sweden, in August, 1925, 
designed to enlist the whole of Protestant Christendom, 
and some branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church, in a 
cooperative effort to bring Christian influences to bear in 
dealing with the moral, social, industrial and_ political 
problems growing out of conditions following the World 
War. It is possible that along these practical lines the 
Church may find the way later into the larger realization 
of its true spiritual unity. 

(e) Internatsonal Alliances—Among the international 
gatherings which have had large influence in the develop- 
ment of other and more practical forms of cooperation 
are “ The World Alliance of Reformed Churches ” hold- 
ing the Presbyterian system (1875), “The Ecumenical 
Methodist Conference” (1881), “The Baptist World 
Alliance,” and ‘“ The Lutheran World Convention.” 
These have helped to give an international outlook and 
to promote international fellowship in the separate 
denominations. 


4. Cooperation in Foreign Mission Fields. 


International cooperation on the foreign field of an 
organized character and on any large scale is of compara- 
tively recent date. It is largely the outcome of the work 
of the “ Foreign Missions Conference of Mission Boards 
in North America,” of the Conference of Missionary So- 
cieties in Great Britain and Ireland, and of the various 
national and international conferences and councils grow- 
ing out of these Conferences. 

(a) The division of territory—This spirit of cooper- 
ation had its first practical manifestation in what may be 
called “a gentleman’s agreement” for a denominational 
division of territory. The agreement has been carried out 
with more or less thoroughness in the missionary work 
of most of the leading denominations. It is cooperation 
in its lowest form, and one of its unavoidable corollaries 
is the temporary accentuation of denominationalism in the 
native churches. The Missions that organize churches in 
their delimited territory will naturally organize them after 
the pattern of the Churches they represent. It was neces- 
sary, however, to encounter this temporary difficulty in 


394 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


order to secure the elimination of missionary congestion 
in certain localities and the extension of the work to un- 
occupied territory. 

Meanwhile, the demand in the native churches for some 
visible expression of their unity, expressing itself in the 
rapid disappearance of the sub-denominational divisions 
imported from abroad, may be depended on ultimately to 
eliminate the more offensive features of denominational- 
ism, and continually to enlarge the sphere of their cooper- 
ative work. 

(b) National Christian Councils —In several countries 
comprehensive agencies for conducting interdenomina- 
tional cooperation have been organized, such as the Na- 
tional Christian Councils recently established in India, 
China and Japan. These Councils are formed of official 
representatives of the different National Churches and 
of the cooperating missions. 

(c) Santo Domingo.—The work in Santo Domingo is 
conducted by a union board in which five denominational 
Boards participate. This is perhaps the most advanced 
development of interdenominational cooperation in any 
foreign field. One great advantage of it is that it has 
enabled the cooperating bodies so to. plan the work 
as to preserve from the beginning a proper balance in 
the different forms of service, evangelistic, medical, 
educational and social. The results have been most 
encouraging. 


5. Doctrinal Differences as Affecting Cooperatton. 


The question has been raised whether it is possible to 
have cooperation between bodies that differ in doctrinal 
interpretation. Experience has shown that where the 
spirit of Christ prevails, it is possible to maintain cooper- 
ation in many important lines of work between those 
differing widely in doctrinal views, provided they are 
united in a common bond of loyalty to Christ as Divine 
Lord and Saviour, and in a common sense of obligation 
to proclaim His gospel to all men. 

This question was presented at the Oxford meeting of 
the “International Missionary Council.” The following 
resolution in regard to it was unanimously adopted. It is 


FORCES WORKING TOWARD UNITY — 395 


commended to the careful consideration of the Montevideo 
Congress : 


(1) “The International Council has never sought nor is 
it its function to work out a body of doctrinal opinions of its 
own. The only doctrinal opinions in the Council are those 
which the various members bring with them into it from the 
Churches and Missionary Boards to which they belong. It is 
not part of the duty of the Council to discuss the merits of 
those opinions, still less to determine doctrinal questions. 
(2) “But it has never been found in practice that in con- 
sequence of this the Council is left with nothing but an un- 
certain’ mass’ of conflicting opinions. The Council is 
conscious of a great measure of agreement which centres in 
a common obligation and a common loyalty. We are con- 
scious of a common obligation to proclaim the Gospel of 
Christ in all the world, and this sense of obligation is made 
rich and deep because of our knowledge of the havoc 
wrought ‘by sin and the efficacy of the salvation offered by 
Christ. We are bound together further by a common loyalty 
to Jesus Himself, and this loyalty is deep and fruitful be- 
catise we rejoice to share the confessions of St. Peter, ‘Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,’ and St. Thomas, 
‘My Lord and my God.’ The secret of our cooperation is 
the presence with us of Jesus Christ, Human Friend and 
Divine Helper. From this common obligation and this com- 
mon loyalty flow many other points of agreement, and our 
differences in doctrine, great though in some instances they 
are, have not hindered us from profitable cooperation in 
counsel. When we have gathered together, we have experi- 
enced a growing unity among ourselves, in which we recog- 
nize the influence of the Holy Spirit. At these meetings we 
have come to a common mind on many matters and been able 
to frame recommendations and statements. These have 
never had the character of command or direction, and it has 
always rested with the Churches or Missions to give them, 
if they would, authority by adopting them or carrying them 
into action. 

(3) “Cooperation in work is more likely to be embar- 
rassed by doctrinal differences than cooperation in counsel. 
Yet there is a wide range of matters such as negotiations 


396 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


with governments, the securing of religious liberty, the com- 
bating of evils arising from the sale of narcotic drugs, col- 
lection and survey of facts, investigation of educational 
methods, etc., which are not affected by doctrinal differences. 
A still more imposing list might be drawn up of types of 
work. in which impediments from doctrinal differences might 
have been anticipated, but experience in many lands has 
shown that most valuable cooperation is possible between 
many churches and missions. Such are the translations of 
the Holy Scriptures, the production and dissemination of 
Christian literature, the conduct of schools and colleges and 
medical institutions, and provision for the training of mis- 
sionaries. Every piece of cooperation in work which this 
Council or, as we believe, any Council connected with it en- 
courages or guides is.confined to those churches or missions 
which freely and willingly take part in it. It would be en- 
tirely out of harmony with the spirit of this movement to 
press for such cooperation in work as would be felt to com- 
promise doctrinal principles or to strain consciences.” 


6. Missionary Relationships. 


The regional reports indicate that relations between the 
Missions and the national churches are in the main cor- 
dial and sympathetic. The national churches, in propor- 
tion as they are organized and developed, assert their in- 
herent right of self-government and are properly and 
creditably sensitive to any attempted encroachment on this 
right by foreign workers. There seems generally to be 
full readiness also on the part of foreign workers to con- 
cede all just demands of the national churches on this 
point. It is not always easy to mark the exact line where 
missionary authority should end and the authority of the 
National Church begin to be recognized. The satisfactori- 
ness of the adjustment will depend upon the extent to 
which each group is endowed with wise judgment and a 
true catholic spirit. 

What seems to us the true theory is that every national 
church attaining sufficient development for organization as 
a church is free-born, having the same inherent right of 
private judgment and self-government that every Evan- 
gelical church in Christendom claims for itself. It is 


FORCES WORKING TOWARD UNITY — 397 


under bonds to Christ to ascertain and conform itself to 
His will as to how it shall be organized, how it shall asso- 
ciate itself with other churches and what helps, govern- 
ments or forms of administrative machinery shall be 
adopted to conserve its purity and to further its develop- 
ment. The missionary is not in any true sense its creator, 
but only God’s instrument in its creation. It does not, 
therefore, belong to him nor to the church he represents 
any more than they belong to it. His one legitimate func- 
tion is to help in all proper ways the development that 
must come to it, not from without, but from within and 
from above. 

The ideal of establishing one Evangelical Church in 
each country is found difficult of realization in proportion 
as the native churches have already been developed along 
denominational lines and permeated with the denomina- 
tional spirit. It is an ideal which should not be aban- 
doned, however, and which is shown by the outcome of 
various union movements not to be impossible of attain- 
ment, even where there has been a long period of denomi- 
national history and tradition to be taken into account. 


7. Relations with the Roman Catholic Church. 


Since the Panama Congress there has been no change in 
the attitude of the official representatives of the Roman 
Catholic Church towards Evangelical forces that would 
justify overtures from Evangelicals for cooperation with 
that Church as an organization. With a few notable ex- 
ceptions the Roman hierarchy maintains an uncompromis- 
ing hostility to all Evangelical work, and regards it’as an 
unwarranted intrusion in a field specifically its own. But 
there are many earnest souls who have found their way 
through sacerdotal and sacramentarian obstructions to the 
true altar, where the one great atonement was made, and 
found there the one Saviour who is loved and wor- 
shipped by all true believers. With these it is easy for 
Evangelical people to have relations of personal kindness 
and fellowship. 

To utter our testimony without compromising any es- 
sential truth and yet in such a spirit of love as not to hurt 
or alienate those for whose sake we are in Latin America, 


398 COOPERATION AND UNITY | 


would seem to be the very heart of this phase of the mis- 
sionary problem. In this connection earnest consideration 
should be given by everyone to the wise words spoken at 
the Panama Congress on this subject by ee Wm. 
Cabell Brown: 


“Let no citizen of the United States say about the Brazil- 
ians what he would not be willing to say to the Brazilians. 
And let no one say about Roman Catholics what he would 
not be willing to say to a Roman Catholic. Suppose I were 
talking to a Roman Catholic. You know how kindly and 
considerate I would be. I would not desire to offend him or 
drive him away. I should rather try to speak the truth in 
love, and, if possible, lead him to the full knowledge of the 
truth. We cannot take too much thought on this matter. 
We should each one look to the Lord and judge in the light 
of His Spirit his own methods and words.” 


The sentiment uttered by Dr. S$. H. Chester on the same 
occasion is also fully applicable at the present time and 
expresses the present attitude of many sincere thinkers: 


“Tf the time ever comes when the Catholic Church shall 
recognize our Evangelical work to the extent of being 
willing to cooperate with us for any common end, let us 
hope that by that time we shall be ready to meet them at 
least half way. All patronage of our schools by Roman 
Catholic parents is a form of cooperation. All help given by 
individual Catholics in the establishment and maintenance of 
our schools and hospitals is cooperation. And such facts are 
common experiences in our work. If we meet such over- 
tures in the right spirit, and if our workers are careful to 
fulfil the law of Christ in all their intercourse with the 
people of Latin America, whether Roman Catholic or non-. 
Roman Catholic, they are as certain to win out in the long 
run, as it is certain that “there remaineth these three, faith, 
hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.’ ” 


II. THE CoMMITTEE ON COOPERATION IN LATIN 
AMERICA, 
When the Edinburgh Missionary Conference omitted 


THE COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION = 399 


Latin America from its purview, the missionary forces 
engaged in work in those countries decided they must have 
their own organization and conference. On looking over 
the situation, the first thing discovered was the lack of 
cooperation. When the forces were organized and as- 
sembled in Panama, in February, 1916, outside of Porto 
Rico and a plan on paper for Mexico there were practi- 
cally no interdenominational committees, schools, presses 
or other movements which would denote that the various 
denominations were considering their work from any 
viewpoint other than their own. At Panama there was a 
continued insistence that the great task could only be con- 
fronted by an immediate and systematic development of 
cooperation among the forces engaged in ministering to 
Latin America. 


1. The History of the Organization of the Committee. 


The Congress adopted a resolution calling for the con- 
tinuance and enlargement of the provisional Committee 
on Cooperation in Latin America. It provided) for an 
American and Canadian section and for a European sec- 
tion of the Committee, each to be made up of a repre- 
sentative of each Board or society working in Latin 
America which should care to enter upon the plan; of 
coopted members, chosen by the committee itself, in num- 
ber not to exceed one-half the total of representative 
members; and of the president and secretary of each 
regional committee organized on the several fields. A 
memorandum was embodied in this article as follows: 
“Tt is understood that the functions of the committee are 
consultative and advisory, not legislative and mandatory.” 

Following the Congress in Panama, deputations visited 
various sections of South America and the West Indies. 
These visits resulted in the holding of: several regional 
conferences and the definite organization of seven regional 
committees on cooperation—one including Argentina, 
Uruguay and Paraguay, and one each for Brazil, Bolivia, 
Chile, Peru, Porto Rico and Cuba. Subsequently re- 
gional conferences were held in Mexico, in Central 
America, and in Venezuela. A regional committee for 
each of these areas was organized, making a total of ten 


400 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


such committees. These committees are directly repre- 
sentative of the Missions on the field, each of which ap- 
points its own representative, just as the Boards at home 
appoint their representatives on the general committee. 

Pursuant to the instructions of the Panama Congress, 
after its findings had been accepted by the Boards inter- 
ested and the representatives of these Boards on the com- 
mittee had been chosen, the enlarged and reconstituted 
American Section of the Committee met at 25 Madison 
Avenue, New York, January 8, 1917, for its first annual 
meeting. Successive meetings have been held each year 
since that time. 

The routine work of the Committee is distributed 
among the following seven sub-committees: The Execu- 
tive Committee, the committees on Survey, on Education, 
on Literature, on the Home Base, on Sunday Schools, and 
on Finance. There are also special committees on the 
West Indies, Mexico, and Brazil. The Executive Com- 
mittee meets quarterly; the others, as far as possible, 
monthly. 

The budget of the Committee, dependent at first on vol- 
untary contributions by individuals, has more and more 
been taken over by the various cooperating Boards, all of 
which now make regular grants based upon the amount 
of each society’s annual expenditures in proportion to the 
total expenditures for missionary work in Latin America. 

A short time after the meeting at Panama, Professor 
Harlan P. Beach, one of the delegates, said out of his 
ripened experience : 


“The Panama Congress has surpassed not only the World 
Congress of 1910, but all others in the speedy mobilization of 
the varied forces called for by the discussions and papers 
heard there. Not a sign of flagging interest is discernible in 
the various committees entrusted with large cooperative re- 
sponsibilities in Latin America and in North America. The 
almost unbelievable work that has already been accomplished 
is beyond any missionary precedent. Scientifically conducted 
investigations, sane and frank discussions, wise conclusions 
prayerfully reached, followed by local application of the 
well planned program to local needs, constitute an achieve- 


THE COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION 401 


ment not reached hitherto by any great conference of 
Christians.” 


2. The British Section of the Committee. 


The British Section of the Committee, called for by the 
Panama resolutions, was unfortunately prevented from 
immediate formation by the Great War. The American 
Section, however, kept in touch with the interested British 
Boards. During a visit of its Executive Secretary to 
London, in 1921, the British Committee on Cooperation 
was formed, with Dr. J. H. Ritson, of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society, as President, and Mr. Alan Ew- 
bank, of the South American Missionary Society, as Sec- 
retary. The members of the Committee frankly stated 
the difficulties encountered in stirring up interest among 
British Christians for work in Latin America and de- 
clared that, while they would cooperate with the American 
Section in every way possible, the latter would have to 
carry the major part of the responsibility. The Secretary 
of the American Section again met with the British Sec- 
tion in London, in 1923, to discuss with its members the 
part the British Societies would take in preparation for 
the Montevideo Congress. Again deep sympathy with the 
work in Latin America was expressed, but since the Brit- 
ish Societies felt the greater burden of their enlarged 
responsibilities in the Orient, they thought they must 
depend on the American Section, with their cooperation, 
to take the responsibility for the organization of the 
Congress. 

Fortunately the representatives of the British Societies 
in South America have taken a full share in the work of 
the regional committees in those countries. Among the 
most important leaders in the regional committees of 
South America have been representatives of the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, of the Free Church of Scot- 
land, of the Evangelical Union of South America, and of 
the South American Missionary Society, while the Re- 
ligious Tract Society of London has recently decided to 
cooperate in the proposed union bookstore in Buenos 
Aires. It is hoped that the Montevideo Congress may be 
able to work out plans for the strengthening of the British 


402 COOPERATION AND UNITY | 


Section of the Committee on Cooperation in Latin Amer- 
ica and for the closest cooperation between the British 
and other Evangelical forces. 


3. The American Section of the Committee. 


The activities of the American Section of the Com- 
mittee on Cooperation are manifold. It acts as a clearing 
house and board of strategy for ‘twenty-eight different 
mission Boards having work in Latin America. It brings 
these Boards around a common council table to discuss all 
the problems connected with their work in Latin America. 
It saves them much money by doing for all of them work 
which individual Boards would otherwise have to under- 
take. It represents the Evangelical churches in many: in- 
ternational movements, which might otherwise overlook 
the importance of the Christian forces. It gives out a 
large amount of information to the press, to schools, to 
business concerns, and to individuals concerning Latin 
America, keeping: missionary work in these countries in 
the public mind. It arranges addresses and conducts 
classes on Latin American topics in churches, conferences, 
conventions and educational institutions. It is developing 
an ever widening acquaintance with the intellectual leaders 
in Latin America and undertakes to interpret to them the 
spirit and purpose of Evangelical Christianity. 

(a) Its eight objectives:—Beginning its life some ten 
years ago as a simple committee to promote cooperation 
in a limited field among mission Boards, it has gradually 
been called upon to enlarge its activities, which at present 
might be summed up as follows: (1) to provide for con- 
ference among mission Boards interested in Latin Amer- 
ica and to work out methods of doing cooperatively those 
things they can do better collectively than individually ; 
(2) to interest the constituency of these Boards more 
largely in Latin America asa field of service; (3) to pro- 
mote acquaintanceship and cooperation between the Evan- 
gelical forces of the various countries of: Latin America 
among themselves; (4) to be eyes for the mission Boards 
and for the Christian churches in the United States in 
discovering and analyzing the ever changing currents of 
thought and action in Latin American life, as these are 


THE COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION 403 


related to the Christian Church; (5) to encourage col- 
lective thinking both by the Christian forces: of North 
America in regard to Latin America and her problems 
and place in the world, and by the Christian forces of 
individual. countries in Latin America concerning their 
relationship to the whole problem of life on this continent 
and in all parts of the world; (6) to urge upon the people 
of Latin America the importance of the Christian solution 
of all problems; (7) to emphasize the value of spiritual 
contacts and the primal place of righteousness and justice 
as the most vital elements in building friendly relations 
among neighboring nations, and (8), to provide informa- 
tion concerning Latin American life to any who seek it 
and to be vigilant in pressing the moral. and spiritual in- 
terests of Latin America in all missionary, educational, 
philanthropic and international movements. 

(b) Jts developments.—In. reviewing the few. years 
during which the Committee on Cooperation has been 
active, the following outstanding developments may be 
cited. First, there has been an enlarged emphasis on 
Evangelical missionary work in Latin America. Every 
one of the Boards, members of this Committee, has 
greatly enlarged its work during this period. ‘This has 
meant also an enlarged interest in the churches at home 
that support this work. Second, there has been an en- 
larged conception of the meaning and opportunity of mis- 
sion work in these Southern countries. Many new 
hospitals, nursing agencies and social centers, have been 
established ; there has been an extension of educational 
work into new realms and, in general, there has been an 
enlargement of the sphere of influetice of the missionary 
enterprise. Third, there has been a closer cooperation 
among the missionary forces. An understanding regard- 
ing responsibility for the occupation of territory has been 
reached in practically every one of the twenty Latin 
American countries. While there are some societies that 
do not observe the rules of comity, every one of the 
Boards that are members, not only recognizes this delimi- 
tation of territory, but reports a great gain in efficiency 
and saving of money because of it. A large number of 
union schools and union presses have been developed, as 


404: COOPERATION AND UNITY 


well as many other institutions on a federated or united 
plan. Probably the greatest gain of all has been in the 
spirit of unity which has grown among the mission Boards 
at home and the workers on the field. This spirit is not 
simply one of “live and let live,” but is one of real work- 
ing together with willingness to sacrifice smaller things 
for the great work of the Kingdom of God. Some of the 
most noble chapters in the development of missionary 
work have been written during the last few years in this 
cooperative work in Latin America. ‘Today none of the 
cooperating societies would think of entering new terri- 
tory or of radically changing its present program without 
consulting its sister organizations. Fourth, there has been 
a new emphasis on literature. Before the Committee’s 
organization, while-the need of Christian literature was 
greatly felt, there was no way of systematically develop- 
ing it. This Committee has furnished the organization 
through which the Missions have been able to work for 
the development of this most needed arm for the propaga- 
tion of the gospel. Fifth, it has published an organ that 
represents Christian opinion before the Spanish-speaking 
world. The publishing of La Nueva Democracia is in 
some ways the greatest single achievement of the Com- 
mittee. It has long been recognized that such an organ 
was necessary for reaching the educated classes of Latin 
America. No single society could command the finances, 
or a sufficient representation of all the forces, requisite 
for its publication. Its articles are copied by the leading 
publications of Latin America and of Spain. Sixth, the 
missionary enterprise has secured a new place in the build- 
ing of international friendship. This Committee has 
always eschewed purely political questions. It has, how- 
ever, sought to do whatever was appropriate in developing 
international friendship, since it has increasingly realized 
how Christian work is handicapped by misunderstandings 
and un-Christian relations between the various nations 
of America. 

(c) Its service to the Americas.—Great opportunities 
have been recently offered to the cooperating agencies to 
lead in the new social movements in Latin America. A 
few incidents selected out of many will serve to illustrate 


THE COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION = 405 


this. As a result of a conference of Chilean students, 
held under the auspices of the Young Women’s Christian 
Association, the students of the university requested a 
missionary who was teaching English in the latter institu- 
tion to organize a Bible class for them. A number of the 
students from that same conference have organized a 
social settlement in the slums of their city. In Brazil, the 
Government has requested the Committee on Cooperation 
to assist it in the gathering of statistics and has invited its 
cooperation in the solution of the Indian problem. In 
Argentina the literary editor of one of the great daily 
papers has recefitly become so interested in giving Chris- 
tianity to the educated classes that he has become a sec- 
retary of the Young Men’s Christian Association. In 
Colombia and in Mexico, Ewangelical ministers have been 
invited to work with the labor unions. In Cuba, the citi- 
zens of several towns have raised funds for the purchase 
of school property which was given to the missionary so- 
cieties. The secretaries of the Committee in recent trips 
through South America have found remarkable oppor- 
tunities for helping government educators and also for 
presenting the spiritual message to leaders of Latin Amer- 
ica through lectures in universities and in other ways. 

Opportunities for the Committee’s leadership in the 
United States are larger than ever before. The commer- 
cial interests, which were doing so much to bring Latin 
America to the attention of the public a few years ago, 
have now, because of financial difficulties, largely with- 
drawn such activities. Seven important magazines in this 
field have lately been abandoned. ‘The official Bulletin of 
the Pan-American Union, La Nueva Democracia and 
Inter-America are the only publications left in this field, 
except a few trade journals. Many of the numerous 
societies that formerly existed have now been disorgan- 
ized. The Pan-American Union and the Committee on 
Cooperation in Latin America are about the only organ- 
izations now active in this field. The official character of 
the Pan-American Union very largely restricts its sphere 
of activities. The demands on the moral and religious 
forces for service and friendship are heavier than they 
have ever been. | 


406 ~. COOPERATION AND UNITY 


(d) Results which it has attained —The situation on the 
mission field itself, as related to cooperation, has been 
completely changed in practically all of the twenty Latin 
American republics. 

Division of territorial responstbility~—A. well-consid- 
ered division of territory has been accepted in nearly all 
of the fields. A program for the distribution of terri- 
torial responsibility, probably unequalled in any other mis- 
sion field in the world, has now been completely carried 
out in Mexico. In Central America each of the republics 
is definitely assigned as the special responsibility of a par- 
ticular Board. In Cuba, by the withdrawal of two Boards 
and the readjustment of territory among others, a situ- 
ation which was formerly most unsatisfactory has now 
been adjusted so as to eliminate almost all overlapping. 
In Porto Rico the excellent zone system, almost the only 
national agreement concerning territory in all. Latin 
America before the organization of the Committee on 
Cooperation in Latin America, has been readjusted to 
meet the changing conditions. In Peru three mission 
Boards have arrived at an agreement as to territory, 
though there are still minor difficulties to be settled. In 
Bolivia the same is true. In Chile the Presbyterians and 
Methodists, the two Boards doing the greater part of the 
work, have, by exchanging territory, improved former 
arrangements and eliminated all overlapping. In Para- 
guay the Methodist Board has withdrawn, leaving that 
field to the Disciples of Christ. In Uruguay. the Meth- 
odist’ Board is the only member of the Committee on 
Cooperation in Latin America. In Argentina and Brazil, 
the two largest South American countries, there has been 
much readjustment between the various Boards since the 
holding of the Panama Congress. .There is yet to be 
worked: out, however, a national division of territorial 
responsibility in these countries. Venezuela and Colombia 
are still largely the responsibility of the Presbyterian Mis- 
sion Board. In Ecuador the Christian and Missionary 
Alliance is the only regularly organized Board at work. 

Union institutions —The following is the inspiring list 
of union institutions developed under the auspices of the 
General and Regional Committees: (1) union theological 


THE COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION — 407 
seminaries in Mexico, Porto Rico, Chile, Argentina and 
Brazil; (2) union papers and bookstores in Mexico, 
Porto Rico, Cuba and Chile; (3) union literature work 
in Brazil and Santo Domingo; plans are now being devel- 
oped for such work in Argentina; (4) a union college and 
a woman’s training school in Argentina; (5) federated 
educational work in Brazil, Chile, Cuba and Porto Rico; 
(6) union hospitals in Mexico, Santo Domingo and 
Brazil; (7) annual interdenominational summer confer- 
ences in Cuba, Porto Rico and Chile and educational con- 
ferences in Brazil, Cuba, River Plate and Mexico; (8) a 
union Board in Santo Domingo, an‘ entirely new plan for 
administering the whole work which five denominational 
Boards support through a central administrative body. 

Literature.—Each year the work of literature becomes 
a larger and more important element in the general pro- 
gram of the Committee. 

The great objective of ‘the Literature Department of 
the Committee is:the provision of more and better Spanish 
and Portuguese literature for the Christian constituency 
in Latin America. In the attainment of this purpose the 
Committee develops ten distinct lines of activity; (1) 
making, subsidizing and supervising translation; (2) se- 
curing the publication of these translations; (3) enlisting 
the interest of qualified indigenous writers in the produc- 
tion of original works; (4) subsidizing the publication of 
books badly needed but not commercially profitable; (5) 
publication of La Nueva Democracia; (6) insuring the 
general circulation of good literature by the operation of 
a mail-order book business; (7) publication of such books 
as the Spanish Commentary on the International Sunday 
School Lessons; (8) preparing material for a regular 
press service for both the religious and secular press in 
Latin America; (9) preparing a monthly “ Sermon Ma- 
terial Service”’ for more than six hundred local pastors 
in Latin America; and (10) general supervision over the 
- activities of cooperative bookstores and publishing houses 
in Mexico, Porto Rico, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Chile, and 
of one in process of organization in Argentina. 

The production of Portuguese literature, being of pri- 
mary interest to Brazil, is centered in that country, the 


408 ~COOPERATION AND UNITY 


Committee in New York confining its aid to the payment 
~ of the salary and office expenses of Prof. Erasmo Braga, 
himself a distinguished writer and the head of our litera- 
ture work in Brazil. Prof, Braga has enlisted the help of 
a very capable group of associates in literature work and 
they are rapidly building up a body of Christian literature 
in Portuguese. 

In addition to the publication of a considerable number 
of new books the Committee has been able to secure the 
republication of some valuable books which have long been 
out of print. This was chiefly accomplished through the 
placement of supporting orders by the Book Department 
of La Nueva Democracia, which encouraged the publish- 
ers to get out the new editions. ‘This department has 
steadily enlarged its business, until it is now in a position 
to furnish a complete wholesale and retail book service to 
any part of the Latin American field. The stock has been 
enlarged so that the Christian literature produced in any 
part of the Spanish-speaking world is now assembled in 
New York. 

There is prepared once a month, by the Editor of Span- 
ish Publications, a sermon outline with various suggested 
treatments of the topic, exegesis, illustrative material and 
references to additional sources of information. A regu- 
lar press service for the religious press in Latin America 
and another for the secular press is maintained by the 
Committee. These articles are sent to nearly a hun- 
dred religious periodicals and to three hundred secular 
publications. 

Through ceaseless activities and many experiments the 
Literature Committee has evolved a practical, tested plan, 
which provides for the use of all available forces for 
meeting the needs in this great field. Today it is only a 
question of releasing sufficient men and money to carry 
out the plan. 

Temperance work.—The Committee continues to be the 
channel through which the temperance forces of the 
United States are working in the Latin American field. 
The work of our Secretary in Mexico has been part- 
ticularly successful. The greatest single service rendered 
has been in helping to secure the adoption of a program 


THE COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION = 409 


of temperance education at the Fifth Pan American 
Conference. 

Religious education—The Sunday School Committee, 
appointed recently to coordinate the Sunday-school work 
in Latin America, as the Literature Committee has done 
it for literature, has made considerable progress. The 
Executive Secretaries of the Regional Committees on 
Cooperation in Brazil, Cuba and Mexico have taken 
prominent parts in leading the Sunday-school forces in 
those countries. The Committee seeks the closer coordi- 
nation of all Sunday-school forces in Latin America and 
the working out of complete courses in religious education 
for both pupils and teachers. 

The Central Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, at its meeting in Panama recently, requested the 
Montevideo Congress to take up the question of associ- 
ating the Sunday-school forces of South America more 
closely with the general work of cooperation. The Com- 
mittee has furnished aid to those interested in extending 
the Daily Vacation Bible School movement to Latin- 
America. This has been done through the secretaries of 
the cooperative committees. 

Work among Indians—The Committee has given 
special attention to the needs of the millions of neglected 
Indians in Latin America. ‘Two representative confer- 
ences have been held at which careful studies on condi- 
tions among the Indians were discussed. At the latter of 
these, held April, 1924, in New York, a Commission on 
Indian Work was authorized. While this Commission 
will be connected with the Committee on Cooperation in 
Latin America, each interested Board has been asked to 
appoint its own representative. The Commission expects 
soon to inaugurate a large program on behalf of these 
needy peoples. 

The Faculty of Theology and the Social Sctences—In 
Montevideo there has been planned this largest of all of 
the projects developed through the Committee on Co- 
operation in Latin America. It would be, not only an 
interdenominational but an international institution for 
the graduate training of men and women for leadership 
in the Church. The plan also calls for a school of social 


410 COOPERATION AND UNITY 

sciences and a language school for missionaries. ‘The 
Methodist Central Conference meeting at Panama spe- 
cially requested the Montevideo Congress to give this 
project careful attention. 

Special funds~-Three special funds for cooperative 
work have been approved by the cooperating Boards, 
which have not yet been raised because of financial diff- 
culties. These are as follows: Christian Literature Fund, 
for the strengthening or establishment of various union 
bookstores and periodicals in all Latin American countries 
and the financing of a Union Board of Trustees to publish 
books in Spanish or Portuguese; Fund for Apologetic 
Lectures, to employ lecturers, foreign and national, to give 
the Christian message in colleges, theatres, clubs, labor 
organizations and like centers; Fund for Conference Cen- 
ters, to secure grounds and equipment in each country 
where workers of all denominations can gather together 
for conference and rest. 

This brief review indicates something of the range of 
the activities of the Committee on Cooperation as it takes 
into its purview what all the mission Boards are doing, 
and the whole social, economic and religious conditions of: 
all twenty Latin American republics. This is the only 
part of the world where a continent and a half speaks 
practically the same language and has, essentially, the 
same problems and ideals. It is inspiring to plan a united 
program for a whole country. but to serve unitedly one 
of the great sections of the world, embracing twenty re- 
publics, is a far more challenging task. 

(e) The new situation in Latin America.—The recent 
rapid development of the influence of Evangelical forces 
in Latin America owes much to the new spirit of unity 
which is impressing the people in general. The city of 
Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest centers of the Prot- 
estant Church in the Latin world. The combined offices 
of the Committee on Cooperation in Brazil, of the Brazil- 
ian Sunday School Association, of the American Bible 
Society and of the National Committee of the Young 
Men’s Christian Association occupy two whole floors of a 
downtown office building in Rio de Janeiro. In Santiago, 
Chile, there are now some sixty foreign workers. Mis- 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 411 


sionaries are called to teach in the university, to serve on 
examining boards of state schools, and to occupy promi- 
nent places in social movements. In Buenos Aires the 
Young Men’s Christian Association has on its staff some 
of the best known leaders in social reform in Argentina. 
“Colegio Americano,” supported by the Methodists and 
Disciples, is securing the attention of state educators, 
even in that metropolitan center. Montevideo boasts of 
the finest Evangelical church building for Spanish- 
speaking peoples in the world. In Montevideo and Sao 
Paulo the Evangelicals have the two finest equipped girls’ 
schools in South America. In Lima, Peru, a missionary 
has been elected a regular member of the faculty of the 
exclusive University of San Marcos. In the city of 
Mexico an audience of a thousand often gathers on a 
Sunday evening in one of the churches, which has a 
Sunday-school of some six hundred members. In Porto 
Rico the Evangelical Church is recognized as the most 
aggressive force for social reform. 

Organizers of the Panama Congress and workers in the 
Committee on Cooperation in Latin America may well 
take courage at the part this movement has had in bring- 
ing the Evangelical work to its present strength. The 
difference between the impact of the evangelical work in 
the community in 1916 and at present is truly remarkable. 
It has been brought about by a united study of the task, 
a united program of action, the presentation of a united 
front before the community and a broader, more positive, 
more comprehensive conception of the service to be 
rendered. 


III. RecIoNAL COMMITTEES IN SOUTH AMERICA. 


Regional committees have been organized to bring to- 
gether the Evangelical forces in the following countries: 
Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, the River Plate and Vene- 
zuela. None has been organized in Colombia or in Ecua- 
- dor, because in each of these two countries there is only 
one Board with the exception of a few, small, independent 
missions. It is regrettable that the following reports do 
not include anything from the Committees in Peru or 
Bolivia, whose reports have not been received. 


412 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


1. Progress in Cooperation Since 1916, | 

(a) Brazil, (1) In world relationships——The attend- 
_ ance of representatives of the Brazil churches at a number 
of international missionary and religious gatherings, in- 
cluding the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, 
the Panama Congress, and several world Sunday-school 
conventions has greatly widened their circle of world rela- 
tionships. The Committee on Cooperation in Brazil has 
contributed to this result along the following definite lines: 

First: By correspondence with various religious, philan- 
thropic and social organizations, including Mission 
Boards, the Alliance for International Friendship through 
the Churches, Church federations in Europe and America 
and the Bureau for the Defense of Indigenous Races, an 
Organization connected with the League of Nations. 
Again by interchange of publications with France, Italy 
and Portugal, and by promotion of close relationships with 
the churches in these countries, as a result of which the 
Committee now has a corresponding representative in 
Portugal and one in France. At the centennial of Brazil- 
ian national independence, messages were received from 
the Evangelical churches in Rio de la Plata and a personal 
visit from a delegate of the Federation of Evangelical 
Churches in France. The Secretary of the Regional Com- 
mittee has attended conferences of students in Uruguay 
and Argentina held under the auspices of the Young 
Men’s Christian Association. Finally, through the reli- 
gious press and other forms of publicity, the Regional 
Committee has been helping to create an interest in the 
world-wide Christian movement. 

(2) In denominational atittudes—-A marked improve- 
ment in denominational relations is indicated by the organ- 
ization of a number of local church federations in our 
larger cities; by an increase in the interchange of pulpits 
and by the visitation of fraternal delegates at denomina- 
tional councils. There is also improvement in the tone of 
the denominational press in its attitude toward denomina- 
tional controversy, and in the publication of news items, 
showing an interest taken by each denomination in the 
work that others are doing. | 

A Church Relationships Committee, established as a 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 413 


part of the Regional Committee’s work, has been helpful 
in clearing up occasional misunderstandings between 
Christian workers and ecclesiastical organizations. 

Other indications that may be cited are the assembling 
at Rio, in 1923, of an interdenominational Evangelical 
congress; the cooperation of five denominations in the 
publication of Sunday-school literature; the holding of 
interdenominational summer conferences at Campinas, 
Lavras, Castro and Sao Paulo. These have promoted 
more sympathetic personal relations and have facilitated 
agreements for new territorial adjustments, such as the 
one recently made between the Southern Presbyterian 
Mission and the Christian and Missionary Alliance in 
North Brazil. The annual conference of missionary 
educators has aroused an increased interest in their 
common work. 

. While the attitude of the national Churches to one an- 
other. is friendly, there have been as yet little more than 
declarations of friendship and some exhibits of Christian 
courtesy, such as the exchange of fraternal delegates at 
Church councils. There is need of greater recognition 
among the denominations of each others’ discipline, and 
of a willingness for the transfer of members moving out- 
side of their own denominational bounds. 

_ The Episcopal Church in Brazil reflects in its attitude 
the broad and fraternal spirit of the missionary bishop 
who has had charge of its work, but it has as yet taken 
few practical steps in actual cooperation. 

(b) Chile. (1) In world relationships ——The fifth Pan 
American Congress held in Santiago, in April, 1923, at 
which eighteen of the twenty-one Latin American repub- 
lics were represented, revealed the fact that there had been 
some progress since 1916 towards a better international 
understanding. It does not appear that the national 
churches in Chile have been brought into contact through 
their own representatives with any of the Christian world 
movements outside of Latin America. 

(2) In denominational attitudes—Relations between 
the different Protestant denominations working in Chile 
are friendly, and there is increasing evidence of a spirit 
of toleration and goodwill among those holding different 


414 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


views in matters of policy and doctrine. At the Christian 
Workers’ Conference held annually at Angol, in which 
eight different organizations participate, the denomina- 
tional idea is entirely discarded. 

(c) River Plate Regiton—Argentina, Paraguay, Uru- 
guay—(1) In world relationships——Through the in- 
fluence of the League of Nations, in whose work Latin 
America has had a conspicuous part, and in less degree 
through the Pan American Congress held in Santigo in 
1923, there has been a marked improvement in the matter 
of friendship and goodwill between the different Latin 
American countries since 1916. One illustration of this 
was the generosity of Brazil in cancelling a debt long due 
from Uruguay, a much smaller country, and in voluntar- 
ily acceding to Uruguay’s claim as to boundary lines, 
more being granted than was asked. One exception 
stands in the relations between Argentina and Brazil, 
which have been more or less strained on account of 
their failure at the Pan American Congress to agree on 
terms of disarmament. 

Some suspicion and jealousy between Latin America 
and the United States has been aroused by the sending of 
a naval commission from the United States to Brazil. 
This feeling was especially strong in Argentina and led 
to increased military budgets. It is quite apparent to 
careful students of Pan-American relationships that the 
Evangelical missionary movement has been, by far, the 
most acceptable and successful agency in promoting in- 
ternational concord. 

(2) In denominational attitudes—tIn the matter of de- 
nominational attitudes and the relations between Missions 
and national churches the situation is greatly improved 
since 1916. The organizers of the Panama Congress will 
remember the hostility to its work that was manifested in 
Argentina, on account of the misunderstanding of the 
motives and misinterpretation of the plans and purposes 
of the organizing committee. The impression was pro- 
duced on some that the objective of the Congress was the 
amalgamation of the different national Churches with the 
intention of placing them under the control of the Com- 
mittee on Cooperation in New York. A supposed attitude 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 415 


of protection and direction by a foreign element and of a 
desire to relegate the South American element to a second- 
ary position was resented on the field. The sectarian 
spirit was also strong and is still too much in evidence. 

After speaking of the present rivalries among the na- 
tions of the world, which may bring on war at any time, 
an Argentine report says: 


“Removing our vision from this disconsolating spectacle 
we may arrest it at that of church denominations. What has 
been the attitude of these in respect to cooperation? One 
might have hoped that, as men of religion, moving in so 
different an atmosphere, at least by definition, to that of the 
man of the world, their attitude of mind would be funda- 
mentally different; yet it is not so. Cooperation between the 
National Churches depends on factors which to date have 
not been grasped by the churches: they are not powerful 
enough to produce an Evangelical opinion in the matter, and 
the tone which prevails amongst them is determined by the 
leaders, who usually are the Pastors. Members of the differ- 
ent Churches often view one another as enemies. No small 
proportion of this lamentable state of affairs is due to the 
intellectual and spiritual poverty of some of the foreigners 
who have all but neutralized the benefits of their preaching, 
by the abominable spirit of sectarianism which they have 
simultaneously sown amongst their followers.” 


There has been, however, a friendly mingling of the 
different denominations. Through the Regional Com- 
mittees, practically every Evangelical body in this region 
participates in some form of cooperation. The Southern 
Baptist Mission does not cooperate officially, but its in- 
fluence is on the side of the general advance of the whole 
church and not merely that of the Baptist denomination. 
The Anglican Church has recently withdrawn from of- 
ficial connection with the Evangelical Council, but the 
- bishop in charge consents to have one of his men act as 
chairman of the sub-committee of the Council in the 
preparation of reports for the Congress. 

(d) Veneguela—(1) In world relationships—The 
churches and missionary forces in Venezuela have had 


416 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


little contact with outside world movements. ‘There was 
no regional committee till January, 1923, to assume re- 
sponsibility for promoting world relationships. ‘The visit 
of the Educational Secretary of the Committee on) Co- 
operation awakened an interest in the work being done in 
other parts of Latin America. 

(2) In denominational attitudes.—So far the leadership 
in Evangelical work in Venezuela has been almost en- 
tirely with the foreign missionaries, very few native lead- 
ers having yet been developed. Among the missionaries 
a fine spirit of Christian fellowship has prevailed, and a 
disposition exists to conduct the work along cooperative 
lines, as was manifested at the conference held at Caracas 
in March, 1923. At this conference a proposal was made 
to establish one Evangelical Christian Church in Vene- 
zuela. ‘T'wo of the denominations represented have given 
their assent to this proposal, and it is probable that the 
others will do so. 


2. Cooperative Enterprises Already Sanctioned. 


(a) Brazil—(1) A central office in Rio de Janeiro— 
All the cooperative work in Brazil centers in the offices of 
the Committee on Cooperation in Brazil, which has 
recently been located on a prominent street and forms a 
most attractive meeting place for the Evangelical interests 
of the country. Its work includes such activities as 
preparation of syndicated articles concerning the Evan- 
gelical work sent both to the religious and secular press; 
the preparation of an annual Sunday-school lesson help in 
Portuguese; a literature exhibit; a directory of Evangel- 
ical workers ; the coordination of work among the Indians 
and Japanese; the building up of a Portuguese literature 
by the publication of original works by native authors and 
of translations of books in other languages; and a close 
advisory relation to the Young Men’s Christian Associ- 
ation, the Young Women’s Christian Association, the na- 
tional Sunday School Association and other agencies, 
especially in connection with their publications. The 
office has a conference room for interdenominational 
meetings. 

(2) Educational enterprises—As a, rule the schools con- 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 417 


ducted by the Evangelical forces have been hitherto largely 
denominational, but there are several good examples of 
cooperative effort. (1) Mackenzie College, Sao Paulo, 
was originally Presbyterian, but, in 1895, it was trans- 
ferred to an interdenominational board of trustees; (2) 
the theological seminary at Campinas is a cooperative in- 
stitution, conducted jointly by the Missions of the North- 
ern and Southern Presbyterian Churches and by the 
Brazilian National Presbyterian Church; (3) the Union 
Theological Seminary at Rio has been under the auspices 
of the National Presbyterian, the Independent Presby- 
terian, the National Methodist Episcopal and the Congre- 
gational Churches. The Mission Boards of the Northern 
and Southern Presbyterian Churches and of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church South, were also associated in the 
enterprise. ‘The entire situation as to this seminary needs 
to be cleared up and the question decided concerning the 
Boards and churches that will cooperate in maintaining it, 
and the extent of their cooperation. 

In North Brazil there is a movement to establish a 
union theological seminary at Recife as the further devel- 
opment of the theological school conducted by the South- 
ern Presbyterians at that point. 

The University Federation, established in 1916, is ef- 
fectively creating a consciousness of unity among the 
workers in the federated school. The study of technical 
and religious problems involved in Christian educational 
work is helpful in many ways, and reveals more and more 
the necessity for a larger measure of cooperation. 

(3). Literature-——The Committee on Cooperation in 
Brazil has given special attention to the coordination of all 
efforts of the churches, the Sunday-schools, the Young 
Men’s Christian Associations, and of other forces in the 
production and distribution of Christian literature. The 
Secretary has taken a large part in the actual production 
of literature for these various organizations and in supply- 
_ ing the secular press with religious material. The Meth- 
odist press, while under denominational management, does 
work for all the churches. The British and the American 
Bible Societies of course serve all communions. 

(4) Conference for students—Some conferences for 


418 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


students have been held under the auspices of the Young 
Men’s Christian Association, and some special meetings 
for students have been held when prominent leaders from 
the North American churches have visited Brazil. But 
comparatively little as yet has been done in this important 
line of work. 

(5) Hospitals——The Evangelical hospital at Rio was 
built and is supported by the members of different Na- 
tional Churches. In the town of Botucatu, in Sao Paulo, 
a hospital has been conducted for many years on a co- 
operative arrangement between the local church and the 
municipal government. ‘The arrangement worked. satis- 
factorily for a long time, but trouble has recently arisen 
through the interference of the Roman Catholic bishop. 

A Christian rest home was opened at Caxambu three 
years ago, but it has recently been closed. It is hoped to 
open it soon under a different plan of organization. It 
seems to be doubtful whether joint responsibilities between 
foreign Boards and national churches will be successful 
in highly specialized lines, since the churches feel bur- 
dened with carrying forward the immense amount of 
work that comes in their normal development. 

(6) Other unton enterprises—At Sao Paulo the evan- 
gelical forces have united in establishing a Protestant 
cemetery. The local Council of Churches conducted a 
joint campaign in the secular press against the appropri- 
ation of public funds for a Roman Catholic cathedral. 
In Santos the local Church Council established a primary 
and secondary school under joint control. In Rio there 
is a Union of Christian Workers which meets period- 
ically and represents the Evangelical forces in public mat- 
ters. The Union presented a Bible to the President of 
Portugal, who expressed appreciation of the gift and de- 
clared himself to be a reader of the “immortal book of 
humanity.” This association has assisted the denomina- 
tional churches to solve problems of local comity. 

A new cooperative organization of special interest is a 
library established by Ambassador Morgan, who pur- 
chased the religious books of the distinguished publicist, 
the late Dr. J. C. Rodriguez, and installed them in the 
office of the Committee on Cooperation in Brazil, as a 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 419 


memorial of his friend and as a means of spreading the 
knowledge of the Bible in Brazil. 

The Union Church for English speaking residents in ° 
Rio is an important influence in the community. It has 
plans for a representative building, including a social 
center. There is also the beginning of a similar enterprise 
at Sao Paulo. 

(b) Chile—The cooperative enterprises already sanc- 
tioned and in operation in Chile are a theological seminary, 
in which the Methodist and Presbyterian churches are 
united; a union book store, conducted by the Methodists 
and Presbyterians, but patronized by all denominations ; 
a union paper, El Heraldo Cristiano, published by the 
Methodists and Presbyterians; a circulating missionary 
library, and a Christian Workers’ Conference, held at 
Angol, in which eight denominations are participating. 

(c) The River Plate Region—In the matter of terri- 
torial occupation there is lacking any comprehensive di- 
vision of responsibility among the various groups of 
churches, although there 1s a general understanding 
among the Missions that no one of them will enter a dis- 
trict already supplied with Evangelical teaching. An ar- 
rangement of comity between the Methodist Episcopal 
Mission and that of the Disciples of Christ has been made 
by which the Methodist Mission has withdrawn from 
Paraguay and from two provinces of Argentina lying on 
the route to Paraguay. 

It may become necessary to fix a time limit for such 
territorial arrangements, as otherwise large tracts of terri- 
tory with considerable populations may have their privi- 
lege of hearing the gospel from Evangelical sources in- 
definitely postponed. To prevent misunderstanding and 
friction in the future it would be well for this matter to 
be brought up for earnest consideration at Montevideo. 

Among the union or cooperative educational enterprises 
carried on by the Methodist and Disciples Missions are: 
A union theological seminary in Buenos Aires; a training 
school for women workers, and the American College. 
This last occupies a strategic position and is one of the 
most promising schools in all Latin America. Difficulties 
have developed in the joint administration of these educa- 


420 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


tional enterprises that ought to have the careful attention 
of all concerned. 

‘A movement for providing a union printing and dis- 
tributing center for books and periodicals has recently 
been launched and is being agitated with some hope of 
success. ‘There is an Educational Association including 
all the educational missionaries of the three countries 
which meets once a year for the study of school problems. 
There is a Schoolmasters’ Club in Montevideo which holds 
monthly meetings. There is also a Sunday School Union, 
which holds a convention once a year at Buenos Aires. 
In Buenos Aires and in Montevideo there are Ministerial 
Associations. 

(d) Venezguela-—No arrangements have been, as yet, 
actually effected for conducting any cooperative work. 
Proposals have been made for cooperation between the 
Presbyterian and the Scandinavian Alliance Missions in 
the establishment of a union mission press and in the pub- | 
lication of a religious paper, but these measures have not 
yet been carried into effect. 


3. The Cooperative Enterprises Needed. 

(a) Brazil—(1) International church gatherings — 
Our Regional Congresses in 1916 and 1922 were interna- 
tional gatherings which left a deep impression on the 
minds of the young people of the churches in Brazil. ‘The 
proposed Congress at Montevideo will afford another 
valued opportunity for bringing our Latin American 
churches, through their representatives, into vital touch 
with those of England and North America. It would also 
be well if our Brazilian churches could be represented in 
such a far-reaching movement as the World Conference 
on Faith and Order and at the proposed Universal Con- 
ference on the Life and Work of the Churches, at Stock- 
holm, in 1925. Our churches should also be represented 
in all international movements for the promotion of peace, 
and for the defense of indigenous races. 

(2) Cooperation in education—The University Feder- 
ation, as noted above, has been working to standardize the 
courses of the Evangelical schools. The Evangelical 
churches of France are planning to establish scholarships 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 421 


for Brazilian theological students at Paris and Mont- 
pelier, but only those students who have had a thorough 
classical training will be able to avail themselves of such 
scholarships. 

(3) The Graduate Faculty of Theology and Social 
Science.—This institution at Montevideo, described else- 
where, cannot be used to any large extent by Brazilian 
students, except for post-graduate work, on account of 
its use of the Spanish language. It will serve a very 
essential purpose, however, in developing a class of men 
capable of ministering to the educated classes of the 
country. 

(4) The Language School.—A language school was es- 
tablished in Rio de Janeiro in 1919 as an integral part of 
the Baptist College in Rio. This school should by all 
means be conducted as a union enterprise. 

(5) Summer Conferences—A number of denomina- 
tional summer conferences, such as~ those mentioned 
above, have been already established, and more are needed. 
It would help to avoid overlapping and competition, if all 
these enterprises were made interdenominational and - 
placed under the general supervision of the Regional Co- 
operation Committee. The offer was recently made to 
donate grounds at one of the best health resorts in Brazil 
on which to establish a summer camp for interdenomina- 
tional gatherings. 

(b) Chile—(1) Institutes—In large cities where two 
or more churches are at work, the holding of periodic 
institutes under the leadership of both missionaries and 
native pastors offers opportunity for a helpful form of 
cooperation. Such institutes might become training cen- 
ters for workers in Sunday-schools, in social service and 
in personal work. The Christian Alliance Church at 
Temuco is now conducting such a training center with 
excellent results. 

(2) Metropolitan organization.—The churches might 
_ unite on the direction of work in cities under one manage- 
ment. The work ina city like Valparaiso or Concepcion 
could be organized on the metropolitan plan with one 
missionary as director of the work of all the churches. 
Under him there would be workers in the various depart- 


422 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


ments such as educational, social, evangelistic, relationship 
with workingmen. According to the present plan, each 
Mission has its own directing missionary, which means 
that several are placed in each city at large expense and 
with much overlapping of leadership. 

(3) The language school—vThe school at Concepcion, 
in which Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians co- 
operate, should be made available for all Protestant 
missionaries. 

(4) Summer conferences. ——The summer conference for 
missionaries at Angol has proven so helpful and so pro- 
motive of a spirit of cooperation as to suggest the wisdom 
of holding similar conferences in other parts of the 
country. 

(5) Friendly relations among all Evangelical churches. 
—FEarnest effort should be made to bring about closer and 
more sympathetic relations between English-speaking and 
other foreign churches and the national churches. This is 
especially important in view of the anti-religious influence 
of many foreigners engaged in business in Latin Ameri- 
can countries, and of personal antagonism often develop- 
ing between foreigners and natives from which the Chris- 
tian work suffers. 

(6) Cooperation in education—A scientifically planned 
scheme of educational cooperation is urgently needed. 
Some progress has already been made in this direction, 
such as the adoption by all the Missions of uniform text 
books, and bringing the courses of study into harmony 
with those of the government schools. 

In the larger cities it would be advantageous to bring all 
the Mission schools under one directorate, which could 
act as a mediating agency between Mission and govern- 
ment schools, aid in securing local financial support, main- 
tain a cooperative commissary department, and secure 
certain higher grade teachers who might serve all the 
schools. 

(c) The Rwer Plate Region—(1) The graduate 
faculty of theology-——-The Methodist, Presbyterian and 
Disciples Missions have already agreed to unite in this 
enterprise, but it has been thought best to postpone the 
actual beginning of this enterprise until after the Monte- 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 423 


video Congress in order that additional consideration may 
be given the subject at the time of the Congress. 

(2) An Evangelical hospital —An Evangelical hospital 
in each large city of this area is a real need because, in 
spite of liberal character of legislation in such matters, it 
has been found impossible to prevent more or less of in- 
tolerance and persecution of Evangelicals in National 
hospitals. ‘The high cost of such institutions, however, 
when well equipped, and the impracticability of pro- 
viding the necessary funds has so far prevented any 
effective steps. 


3. Union Educational Plants. 


The Argentine report continues: The spirit of cooper- 
ation which vaguely begins to outline itself amongst 
the Evangelical peoples, is, to our judgment, the seed 
which contains the germ of the factors which will 
eventually create and consolidate the organisms of all 
types which will in the future coalesce into the practice 
of cooperation. 

It is a plant which to perdure and give fruits must be- 
come deeply rooted in the popular mind, and little effective 
work will be done whilst cooperation is but the aspiration 
of the few. 

The American College is a North American institute 
open to the public in general. Only two denominations 
respond for its maintenance; but we understand that the 
closed door is not a characteristic, and that cooperation 
of other denominations would be welcomed. An equal 
statement may be advanced in respect to the Model Insti- 
tute and the Theological Seminary. 


4. Union Organizations for Printing and Distribution. 
There does not exist in this Republic any union organ- 
ization dedicated to the printing and distribution of Evan- 
gelical literature. Possibly this may be due to the fact 
- that some of the organizations which work in these dis- 
tricts have means to carry out such work independently ; 
but although the fact testifies to the spirit of sacrifice and 
independence of such groups, it must also be allowed that 
it connotes a pitiful waste of energies and money. As 


424) COOPERATION AND UNITY 


regards denominational papers a number exist quite out 
of proportion to the number of readers, as each denomina- 
tion, even to the newest arrival on the field, all have their 
own organ of publicity.. This is a terrain in which the 
spirit of intolerance and sectarianism is too often shown. 
The Evangelicals of Spain have managed to recast their 
denominational reviews in a sole publication which hon- 
ors them, and of which they can be justly proud; in this 
zone we are, as yet, far away from sucha goal. 


5. Union Conferences. 


In respect to interdenominational summer camps, there 
is a great need for establishing: the same. The Young 
Men’s Christian Association has its yearly summer camps 
at “ Adela” and at Piriapolis, but these are for students 
only. Certain denominations have held conferences. An 
interdenominational group under the aegis of the South 
American Evangelical Union has also conducted most 
helpful conferences. But there ought to be developed in 
Argentina, as has been in Chile, Porto Rico and Cuba, 
gatherings that will bring representatives from all the 
varied groups together. 


6. Evangelical Federation. 


Some years since the idea of an Evangelical Federation 
sprang to life in Buenos Aires, and its first act was to 
establish a new Review entitled “The Evangelical Ga- 
zette.”’ ‘The Federative idea made a propitious start and 
many Evangelicals of different denominations enlisted in 
its files. But at present it is not so vigorous. 


7. International Church Gatherings. 

International meetings would contribute, without doubt, 
to the development of cooperation between the denomina- 
tions; amounting to object lessons which might perhaps 
dissolve sectarian asperities. Also, though in small pro- 
portion, they would contribute toward the dissipation of 
lack of confidence among nations. 

(d) Venezuela—tThe needs of the Venezuelan churches 
in the matter of theological education are at present being 
supplied by the Union Theological Seminary in Porto 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 425 


Rico, at which five young men representing three missions 
are now studying. 

(1) Language school—There is need of a language 
school in which all the Missions should cooperate. 

(2) Summer conferences——A conference of Missionary 
Teachers was held in 1924 which will hereafter be held 
annually. The British and Foreign Bible Society has held 
several conferences for colporteurs in Spanish, in which 
others have been invited to take part, but no union con- 
ferences in Spanish for native Christians have as yet 
been held. Devotional conferences, conventions on per- 
sonal work, conferences on Sunday-school and Young 
People’s work should be established. 

(3) Representatives at imternational gatherings.—It 
would be very helpful if delegates from the Venezuelan 
churches could attend some of the notable international 
gatherings planned in the near future. 

(4) Cooperative education.—As the elementary schools 
develop, all should be made to harmonize as far as possible 
both in aim and in method, so that the students, as they 
enter the higher schools, will be prepared to continue their 
work more nearly on an equal footing. As far as possible 
all Mission schools should conform to all the requirements 
and be coordinated with the Federal system of education, 
and every effort should be made to make them models for 
government schools in method and quality of teaching. 


4. Cooperation Among the Churches. 

(a) Bragil—(1) Union meetings.—Interdenomina- 
tional evangelistic meetings, which have played such a 
large part in British and North American church history 
for the last half century, have as yet been used to a lim- 
ited extent in the churches in Brazil. Among the ministry 
of the national churches, there are now no doubt many 
having special gifts for this kind of work. In the larger 
cities especially, the holding of, union meetings would not 
only be found fruitful in the building up of the churches, 
but would also greatly promote the realization of their 
common interests and their common life. In the conduct 
of evangelistic campaigns, it is advisable that the chief 
responsibility should be placed upon the native ministers 


426 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


and churches, both in the selection of the evangelists and 
in the direction and support ofthe work. In places where 
the number of missionaries and native ministers is suf- 
ficient to justify it, ‘Ministerial associations should be 
formed. 

(2) Cooperation in moral reform —lIn the conduct of 
moral campaigns against intemperance, gambling or public 
immorality of any kind, great care should be exercised to 
avoid becoming entangled in political measures of a par- 
tisan character. The definite aims of such campaigns 
should be to bring great civic and moral issues under the 
category of applied Christianity, and to educate the public 
Sine re in Christian ideals and in the Christian way 
of life. 

(3) National convocations——National gatherings simi- 
lar to those held under the auspices of the Laymen’s 
Movement in North America aimed for the development 
of a missionary spirit in the churches and for promoting 
interchurch fellowship, proper ideas of stewardship, Sab- 
bath observance and family religion would be a valuable 
form of cooperative effort. The national churches need 
to be trained in cooperation. ‘They are all organized on 
denominational lines and the denominational spirit has 
been ingrained in them. ‘These Churches now need to be 
trained in team work, and in appreciation of the para- 
mount importance of the Christian movement as a whole. 

The Brazilian Committee on Cooperation has instructed 
its Executive Committee to arrange for conferences of 
small groups of native leaders and of missionaries to 
study the problems relating to Cooperation and Unity. 
The discussions held at these conferences are the indis- 
pensable preliminary to any considerable advance in 
cooperation. 

(4) Enlarged usefulness of the regional Committee on 
Cooperation—lIt should be the aim of the Central Com- 
mittee at Rio, by correspondence and visitation, to keep in 
touch with the Missions on the field and with the National 
Church councils. The country is of vast extent; means 
of transportation are limited and postal service is inade- 
quate. ‘The pressure of local work is so great that it is 
easy to postpone the consideration of problems of a gen- 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES A27 


eral character. Mission Boards should understand the im- 
portance of cooperation as an object to be attained by the 
Missions on the field, and should make it possible for 
their missionaries to give time and consideration to this 
phase of the work. There should also be more intimate 
relationships between the Regional Committee on the field 
and the Committee on Cooperation in New York, brought 
about by interchanges of visits between the officers of 
these Committees. The officers of the Regional Com- 
mittee should also take every opportunity to visit the 
church councils, so as to get in touch with leaders and 
enlist their interest in the movement. 

(5) Increased usefulness of the General Committee on 
Cooperation.—lIt is the misfortune of Brazil in its relation 
to the General Committee that the principal work of that 
Committee is necessarily directed toward the work in 
Spanish-speaking countries. ‘The literature issued from 
New York is almost altogether in the Spanish language. 
The Brazilian Committee on Cooperation is given large 
powers and is doing a valuable work, but it is handicapped 
by this fact. The suggestion has been made that the New 
York Committee might organize a Brazilian department to 
take exclusive care of the interests of the Brazilian 
churches. An occasional visit of the officers of the Brazil- 
ian Committee to the New York headquarters would help 
greatly. 

(b) Chile—(1) Unton meetings—All the churches 
should cooperate in holding union meetings in evangelistic 
campaigns and in campaigns for civic and moral reform 
and the promotion of public health. Especially should 
they cooperate, through a Central Committee, if one could 
be organized, in work for temperance reform and for 
national prohibition. 

All the churches should cooperate in the development of 
public sentiment for the elimination of war and the estab- 
lishment of world peace. The churches should endeavor 
‘by cooperative effort to forestall the development of a 
war of classes, and to secure the adoption of Christian 
ideals and principles in social and industrial life. 

(2) Cooperation in moral reform and in religious tasks. 
—The churches can also profitably cooperate with cham- 


428 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


bers of commerce, medical associations, Red Cross and 
other humanitarian agencies for the establishment of im- 
proved sanitary conditions, a good water supply, recre- 
ational facilities and for other things which tend to the 
relief of human suffering and the promotion of the general 
welfare. 

Young Men’s Clubs and Bible Classes, interdenomina- 
tional in character, can unite in the conduct of Sunday- 
schools, street preaching and religious work of many 
kinds in the city slums and among the neglected classes in 
the country. 

(3) National conferences——Interdenominational con- 
ferences and conventions for the promotion of Christian 
stewardship, of family religion, of personal work, and 
for the deepening of the spiritual life would increase the 
activity and efficiency of all the churches. 

(4) Enlarged usefulness of the regional committee —In 
the constitution of the Regional Committee representa- 
tives of the National Churches should be in the majority, 
and on them should be placed the chief responsibility. 
Each of the larger cities should have a representative on 
the Regional Committee who could also be chairman of a 
sub-committee for his locality. The sub-committee should 
be so constituted as to represent the various interests of 
each locality, such as health, athletics, education, recre- 
ation and the relations between employer and employee. 
The Regional Committee should also have a general over- 
sight of all union enterprises. 

(5) Increased usefulness of the Committee on Cooper- 
ation.—It would be very helpful if circulating libraries 
could be established in connection with all the union book 
stores. ‘The Committee might also help by sending out 
men of outstanding ability to give lectures and addresses 
and to hold interviews with groups of workers in the 
larger centers. Other suggestions along this line are made 
in the report of the Commission on Literature. 

The Regional Committee in Chile would suggest that 
an effort be made by the General Committee to make the 
magazine, La Nueva Democracta, more representative of 
Latin American thought by securing a larger proportion 
in its contents of articles written on the field. 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 429 


It would also be helpful, if the Committee could secure 
the setting aside of strong native men like Dr. Julio 
Navarro Monzo, or outstanding foreigners like Dr. J. A. 
Mackay, to give the whole of their time to public lectur- 
ing among students in the higher schools and colleges, and 
among commercial men for the promotion of Christian 
ideals in business. It might likewise establish a fund to 
meet the expenses of the field agencies for cooperation 
and for the support of the larger cooperative undertakings. 

A capital illustration of the way in which the Committee 
can accomplish important results for all the Missions and 
churches is afforded by the admirable service rendered by 
its General Secretary at the fifth Pan American Congress 
in Santiago. 

(c) River Plate Region—(1) Cooperation in moral re- 
form—The Evangelical community in this region is such 
a small element of the general population that it has been 
able to accomplish comparatively little in the promotion of 
civic matters by ecclesiastical bodies, and especially by 
those that may be regarded as exotic in their life. Never- 
theless, much can be done through the Evangelical press 
and from the pulpit. Before such efforts can hope to meet 
with much success, however, it is necessary for the Evan- 
gelical bodies to maintain a high standard of moral and 
social purity, and to be able to convince influential national 
leaders as to what they represent in that respect. It has 
been aptly said by an influential writer that “If Protes- 
tantism is no better morally than Romanism, then why 
change the one for the other?” It is a matter to be con- 
sidered whether or not too much relative emphasis has 
been placed on sectarian propaganda and on correctness 
of doctrinal belief, and not enough on the ethical side of 
Christianity and the social implications of the gospel. 

It is just here that the need is felt for abler and more 
highly educated leaders in the ministry of the National 
churches, and of an institution giving the students for the 
‘ministry a course of study that will appeal to able young 
men as do the university courses in medicine or law. 

(2): An Executive Secretary for the Regional Com- 
muttee.—One of the pressing needs of this field is an Ex- 
ecutive Secretary corresponding to the one in Brazil. The 


430 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


Montevideo Congress should give earnest consideration to 
the question of appointing such an officer. 

(d) Venezuela—(1) Union meetings—The churches 
should cooperate as much as possible in union meetings, 
exchange of pulpits and in evangelistic, civic and moral 
campaigns. ‘The opportunity for union meetings in Vene- 
zuela is small for the reason that at present there are only 
two cities where there is more than one church. 

(2) Evangelistic campaigns —An evangelistic campaign 
was conducted from January to April, 1923, in which five 
Missions participated and in which six states and the fed- 
eral district were touched. The principal evangelist came 
from Porto Rico, and was accompanied by one of the 
missionaries of the Scandinavian Alliance. Wherever 
these men went, a profound impression was made on 
the people. 

(3) The regional committee-—This committee should 
be in close touch with all the cooperating bodies, and 
should make friendly approaches to the non-cooperating 
bodies, seeking to enlist their participation at least in 
conferences. 

The Regional Committee should study the problem of 
occupation of territory and be prepared to give advice 
with reference to the assignment of missionaries to the 
most needy places. It should make surveys of the field to 
be used by the Committee in New York in awakening the 
interest of the home churches in Venezuela as a mis- 
sion field. 

(4) The Commitiee on Cooperation in Latin America. 
—The General Committee can be especially helpful to the 
work in Venezuela by giving it proper publicity, and by 
bringing the workers in touch with those in other Latin 
American fields. The work of the sub-committee on 
Literature is especially helpful. Literature of all kinds is 
needed, but special attention should be given to that of a 
distinctly evangelistic character. 


5. Cooperation with Other Forces. 

(a) Brazél—(1) Governmental cooperation.—Our Re- 
gional Committee cooperates with the government in work 
of the service for the protection of the Indians, in the de- 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 431 


velopment of a library and a bureau of statistics, and in 
rendering more reliable the religious statistics published 
by the State. During the influenza epidemic, many 
churches cooperated actively with government officials. 
The governor of the State of Sao Paulo paid a visit to the 
headquarters of the Evangelical committee to thank its 
members for their splendid help. The late Dr. Horace 
M. Lane, President of Mackenzie College, rendered valu- 
able public services in organizing a system of public edu- 
cation. Mr. Benjamin Hunnicutt, of the Agricultural 
School at Lavras, has cooperated effectively with the gov- 
ernment in connection with exports, the organization of 
corn clubs, the publication of agricultural literature and 
in agricultural education generally. He has organized, at 
Lavras, an annual fair, held on the college campus under 
the auspices of the local agricultural society. ‘This fair is 
subsidized by the county, state and federal governments. 
Farmers, women, schools and merchants contribute each 
their part and the whole community is reached by this 
fine example of cooperation. Missions to the Indians 
are cooperating with the government in saving the In- 
dians from vice and exploitation, and in sanitary meas- 
ures. There is a large field for cooperation with the gov- 
ernment’s department of Public Health in spreading in- 
formation, helping the law enforcement and disseminating 
educational literature. 

Cooperation in public education is limited to the giving 
of advice and of help, when requested. When the Fed- 
eral government recently asked public and private teachers 
to offer suggestions looking to the reorganization of the 
national educational system, our University Federation 
prepared a plan, which was submitted to the Minister 
of Justice. 

(2) Social Reforms—Cooperation in social reform has 
been carried on by the Young Men’s Christian Associ- 
ation and by many local societies. The Association is 
rendering efficient help in the organization of athletic 
associations and in the anti-gambling and anti-alcoholic 
propaganda. When, at the beginning of the World 
War, many working men were left without employ- 
ment, Christian workers in the city of Campinas entered 


432 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


heartily into cooperation aie other organizations in social 
relief work. 

The churches have a ral responsibility in promulgat- 
ing true Scriptural ideas in such matters as temperance, 
business reliability and general purity of life. Our native 
ministers need to be impressed with the responsibility of 
being the prophets of God to their own people, with the 
same courage and outspoken frankness that characterized 
the spiritual leaders in Israel of old. 

(b) Chile—(1) Governmental cooperation—The evan- 
gelistic forces should continue to cooperate with the gov- 
ernment in developing, through the pulpit and other 
agencies, a sentiment of respect for law and order. The 
churches should also support the government in all. its 
efforts for social and moral reform, for public: hygiene, 
and provision for educational facilities for the neglected 
classes. In all these matters the Missions should endeavor 
to make their own schools models for those established by 
the government, and the native churches should strive to 
impress upon their members their responsibility as ex- 
amples for those on the outside. The churches should 
also, as they become able, establish centers affording fa- 
cilities for clean and healthful recreation for alli classes 
in the community. Moving pictures can be used with 
great effect in parish houses or social halls, not only as 
affording wholesome recreation themselves, but as an edu- 
cative agency in every department of the community’s ; 
social life. 

(2) Capital and Labor.—The Evangelical forces shauld 
cooperate in an effort to effect a Christian solution of the 
problems of capital and labor. They should unite in an 
effort to secure for the laboring man proper hours of 
work, clean and comfortable housing privileges, educa- 
tional facilities for his children and the payment of a 
living wage. Efforts should also be made to impress the 
laboring man with the obligation resting upon him to be 
reasonable in his demands and to give an honest day’s 
work for honest pay. Industrial mission plants operated 
by the missions should furnish object lessons of the proper 
relations between ernployer and employee.. This is a field 
in which the Young Men’s Christian Association as an 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 433 


interdenominational institution might render especially 
useful service. 

(c) The River Plate Region——All the work of the 
Evangelical Missions is in a sense cooperation with the 
government in solving its educational, social and moral 
problems. The Mission schools supplement what the gov- 
ernment is doing, and even when following the same cur- 
ricula, supply elements that are lacking in the government 
schools. ‘he cause of temperance is directly promoted 
by all Evangelical work and in addition special help is 
often given to this cause by the personal service of the 
Evangelical. ministry. "The churches have made some 
contribution towards solving the leper problem. The 
Evangelical press has promoted child welfare and indi- 
vidual members of the National churches have helped in 
this work in connection with the Child Welfare Con- 
gresses. The white slave traffic has been combated by 
both the Evangelical press and the pulpit and emphasis 
has been laid on the subject of “the white life” for both 
men and women in all our Mission schools. 

(d) Venezuela—(1) Governmental cooperation—The 
government in Venezuela does not recognize the Evan- 
gelical churches sufficiently to admit of any kind of direct 
cooperation with them. Indirectly the local churches, 
through the pulpit, the Sunday-school and other agencies, 
can aid the government’s sanitary and _ educational 
program. 

The government educational system is handicapped by 
the lack of qualified teachers and in some instances by the 
undue influence of the priesthood. ‘The Evangelical agen- 
cies may cooperate indirectly along this line by providing 
better schools than those of the government and by pro- 
viding facilities for teacher training. 


6. Ways of Promoting a Spirit of Cooperation. 

(a) Brazil—The celebration of the Week of Prayer 
- under the auspices of the Evangelical Alliance has done 
much to create a consciousness of spiritual unity among 
our churches. A manual of intercession should be pub- 
lished to present to our churches as the object of their 
prayers. The holding of union services for intercession 


434 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


needs to be encouraged. The Regional Committee has 
promoted some conferences especially to study the prob- 
lems of spiritual amity in sentiment and work. This 
should be given a prominent place in the program of the 
Congress at Montevideo. 

The notion of the church as an instrument for bringing 
men to Christ and for establishing the Kingdom of God 
and not as an end in itself needs to be emphasized, es- 
pecially among those who have been taught to believe that 
the Church itself is everything and that out of the Church 
there is no salvation. In general, we would substitute the 
idea of cooperation and helpfulness as between the 
churches for the idea of monopoly and competition. All 
forms of proselyting should be placed under the ban as 
signs of narrowness and as showing an unwarranted lack 
of confidence in Christian brethren of other names. 

Information giving a broad outlook of the work and of 
its opportunities should be disseminated among the 
churches. Our laymen should be especially enlisted and 
taught to take intelligent part in both the work of the local 
churches and in all forms of cooperative work. In all the 
educative features of our work for cooperation we should 
make large use of the religious press, and of leaflets and 
pamphlet literature to be prepared and circulated by our 
Cooperation Committee. 

This educative work on missions, on Christian steward- 
ship, and the idea of our brotherhood with all true believ- 
ers growing out of our common relation to Christ, should 
be earnestly pressed in the years following the Congress, 
so that with united front our Protestant Church may dis- 
charge its full responsibility in these significant days. 

(b) Chile-—Interdenominational conferences and con- 
ventions similar to the Christian Workers’ Conference for 
Foreign Missionaries should be held for pastors, teachers, 
Sunday school and young people to promote mutual ac- 
quaintanceship and sympathy in each others’ work. 
Groups for prayer should be organized, composed of 
workers of all denominations. A “ Week of Prayer” 
should be observed in each community in which all de- 
nominations should participate, using suggested prayer 
topics furnished by the New York Committee on Cooper- 


REGIONAL COMMITTEES 435 


ation. These Prayer Circles would afford an especially 
fine opportunity to impress the people with the teaching 
of Jesus concerning the infinite worth of each individual 
man, regardless of race, calling or condition, and of the 
equality and oneness of all believers in Him. They would 
also give opportunity for cultivating the spirit of love 
which was the central thing in His life. 

(c) The River Plate Region —The initial impulse in 
cooperative work must come from the home Boards. The 
attitude of the field workers will be largely determined by 
that of the Boards and their secretaries, and it will be 
impossible to go far in the matter of cooperation and in 
the direction of unity unless the Boards and secretaries 
themselves are animated by the cooperative spirit. It is 
hoped that one result of the Montevideo meeting will be a 
new study of the whole subject of cooperation by them 
and by the churches they represent. 

One essential means of promoting the spirit of cooper- 
ation is the continual presentation of Christ’s own con- 
ception of His Church as one body, albeit with various 
members. The picture of the churches painted in the 
twelfth chapter of First Corinthians is one that needs to 
be studied both at home and on the field, until such a 
thing as rivalry among the branches into which the Church 
is divided should become as unthinkable as competition 
would be among the members of the human body. 

A frequent exchange of pulpits by the leading ministers 
of the different National churches would be very helpful. 

In view of the small part hitherto taken by the native 
pastor and leader in bringing about cooperation, a much 
larger representation should be accorded to the lay ele- 
ment in the hope that they will be able to achieve more 
satisfactory results. 

An Argentine pastor, writing with great earnestness 
and frankness concerning his ideas of what must be done 
to promote more cooperation in that country, says: 


“In what we have said concerning mismanagement in 
cooperative movements we have referred only to people of 
good will, who saw in these failings a reason for lamenta- 
tion. We have made no reference to the systematically ir- 


436 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


reconcilable. Formerly, as now, there have been people 
within the different denominations, disposed to launch the 
major excommunication against the slightest shadow of a 
coming together in cooperation. We must not pass un- 
noticed that in a good number of those who fan this fire, 
which they themselves seem to think sacred, are foreign 
missionaries who succeed in inspiring the ingenuous unfortu- 
nates who second them, thus prolonging in these countries 
their own unfortunate theological disputes. 

“The men who are in the mission field are, in the main, 
so absorbed in their work that they have little time in which 
to extend their vision to the larger field of cooperation. It 
is one of those cases in which those who find themselves in 
a forest with the trees hidden from them because of the 
exuberance of leaves. It is also necessary to realize that 
mental idleness necessarily comes to men who see) them- 
selves obliged to move in a narrow circle; hence it is to be 
hoped that those in the larger positions of leadership are 
prepared to contemplate the interests of the kingdom of God 
as a whole. Men who are in positions of prominence are — 
those who can impress on the denominations the character 
and government that they wish, and, if they are sufhciently 
diplomatic, can systematically eliminate prejudice against 
cooperation and lead their people into a spirit of unity with 
all Christ’s followers.” 


(d) Venezuela~—The development of the spirit of co- 
operation must always precede any effective cooperative 
work. There are some individuals and some churches 
which will not do team work of any kind, because they 
lack the spirit of cooperation. ‘The development of this 
spirit is vital to the individual church and to the work as 
a whole. The best and only means for its development 
are earnest prayer and close communion with Christ and 
with Christian brethren. 3 


IV. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR PEACE. 


No Christian gathering of the scope of the Montevideo 
Congress could come together in such critical times as| we 
face today without giving serious consideration to the 
question of international peace. Reference has already 


COOPERATION FOR PEACE 437 


been made to this in the section on the work of the Re- 
gional Committees. The Universal Christian Conference 
on Life and Work, to be held at Stockholm, August 
19-30, 1925, has a separate commission report on this 
momentous question, and we have taken the privilege of 
drawing from that important document in the following 
considerations : 


1. The Need of a Christian World Order. 


A Christian world order must somehow be. substituted 
for the pagan war-system of the nations. This is the most 
stupendous and the most urgent task facing the modern 
world. Man’s mastery of Nature’s titanic forces has far 
outrun his moral development. Moral fitness of millions 
of men to use these mighty forces, as individuals and as 
nations, must be promptly developed; else our modern 
achievements in civilization will bring down upon us over- 
whelming disasters and age-long chaos. ‘The task is one 
that rests uniquely on the churches, for it is a moral task. 

It is becoming clear that in the achievement of a warless 
world, the state alone is impotent. The assumptions 
widely held that religious and moral considerations are 
quite outside the purview of the state; that the state is an 
institution of power; that it is absolutely sovereign; that 
it is under no obligation to a higher authority ; we begin to 
recognize, constitute a menace to the world and even to 
the state in which these conceptions are held. The falsity 
of these assumptions must be asserted and taught. 

On the other hand, since the actual relations of nations 
are determined by their Governments, the abolition of war 
can be achieved only by the appropriate agreements, 
activities and cooperation of states. Moral principles must 
control the activities of states. 

And this raises the question whether a citizen is subject 
to the state in matters of morals. Can citizens who believe 
that war and preparations for war are violations of God’s 
universal moral law, be loyal to the state? Can a Chris- 
tian be a loyal citizen of a non-moral state? Can a 
Christian in obedience to a command from the state 
rightly commit acts which would be wrong for him as an 
individual—theft, deception, anger, revenge, murder? 


438 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


These are questions which demand earnest study. They 
involve profound issues in the mutual relations of church 
and state. 


2. Fundamental Factors. 


Before asking ourselves how the churches of the world 
can render the service demanded of them in the abolition 
of war, brief consideration must be given to the real 
causes of war. Many factors are involved—economic, 
political, psychological. The following elements can be 
distinguished : 

(a) Modern civilization has made all the nattons of the 
world extraordinarily inter-dependent. ‘They are inter- 
dependent for raw materials. No nation is completely 
supplied from within its own territories with all the 
varieties of mineral and vegetable products absolutely 
essential for its manifold industrial activities. Each 
nation secures from others, and also contributes to others. 

(b) Notwithstanding their vital inter-dependence, each 
is absolutely independent politically. Each naturally seeks 
to extend its control of the vital necessities of its people, 
to be, just so far as possible, independent economically 
and industrially. This it is that has caused the rivalry 
during recent decades of the peoples of Europe for co- 
lonial possessions and for preferential trade rights. 

(c) The growth of population in all civilized nations is 
another factor of immense significance. ‘The time is not 
far ahead when the world’s population will overtake its 
food supply. What effect will that have on the problem 
of war? 

(d) Secret diplomacy and secret treaties constitute an- 
other factor in the situation. Secrecy has been the habit 
of governments from ancient times. The peoples have 
been quite ignorant of the real facts and have been 
committed to programs that in the end inevitably in- 
volved war. 

(e) The extstence of nations and of governments, how- 
ever, is natural and indeed inevitable. States have come 
into being to meet certain fundamental needs of great 
groups of people living a common life. These activities 
and objectives of government are natural, necessary and 


COOPERATION FOR PEACE 439 


wholly legitimate. Yet these very activities have impor- 
tant bearings on the problem of war. 

(f{) Ignorance of each other by enormous aggregations 
of men is still another important factor in the problem. 
Speaking different languages; controlled by different 
moral, religious and cultural customs; and conscious each 
of its own history, achievements, needs and interests, each 
group is apt to regard other groups as strangers and 
foreigners. Each group ignores the Golden Rule. 

(g) The capitalistic organization of modern soctety as 
a cause of war needs special study. Many maintain that 
it is the principal cause today and that the war system will 
continue until private capital is destroyed. Great aggre- 
gations of private wealth seek investment in foreign lands. 
Capitalists have intimate relations with, if not virtual con- 
trol of, Governments. The resources of Governments— 
diplomacy, army and navy—are utilized by big business 
to get opportunity and especially for their foreign 
investments. 

(h) The spirit of greed and selfishness, moreover, and 

the schemes of adventurers and unscrupulous traders in 
foreign lands to get all that is possible for as little as pos- 
sible, are common characteristics of many who go from 
one group to another. 
(i) Our modern industrial system in its very nature 
and its faulty method of distributing profits is also re- 
garded by many as making war inevitable. To maintain 
employment, markets must be secured by diplomacy and 
protected by naval and military forces. Economic mili- 
taristic imperialism, it is contended, is an inevitable 
by-product of our modern scientific-industrial-financial 
system. 

(j) Partisan politics in many lands seem also to play a 
particularly pernicious part in producing the war spirit 
and ultimately war. | 


3. A Great Educational Task. 


In the light of these various factors of the modem 
world, it is manifest that the achievement of a warless 
world is an intricate and stupendous task. It is a great 
educational undertaking. Millions of men in many lands 


440 COOPERATION AND UNITY 

must be taught to know history as it has actually been. 
The peoples must get the sober facts—deflating national 
pride and exaggerated egoism, creating respect for neigh- 


bors, and showing that all humanity is indissolubly bound 
together i in a common destiny of weal or woe. 


4. A Cooperative Task. 


Since wars spring from rivalry between nations, peace 
can come only by cooperation for peace in all matters that 
threaten to disrupt harmonious relations. 

To be specific, methods for international cooperation 
should be devised in matters of trade, in the fair distribu- 
tion of food and raw materials for industries, and es- 
pecially in the maintenance of security and justice for 
each by the united thought, purpose and power of all. 
This inevitably leads to some kind of a League or Associ- 
ation of Nations. 


5. The Distinctive Function of the Churches. 


The churches cannot, of course, take the place of the 
states. | Pastors cannot substitute for statesmen in the 
dealings of nations and governments. While statesmen 
must draft the treaties, conduct the conferences and de- 
termine the legal relations and procedures of the nations, 
the distinctive field for preachers and pastors is to culti- 
vate among the people the spirit of fair play, the desire 
for right and truth, and the will to brotherhood. 

The churches in every nation can properly request their 
statesmen to devise procedures, enact laws and adopt 
treaties that look to international cooperation for the com- 
mon good in place of self-seeking, nationalistic ambitions, 
and that substitute law for war in the settlement of inter- 
national disputes. 

The churches must learn to work together in this great 
task. The churches in each land should establish a Com- 
mittee for Peace. It should officially represent the entire 
church body and be composed of the ablest leaders pre- 
pared to give adequate time to this vital task. ‘The gov- 
ernment should clearly understand that the churches are 
no longer bound to the chariot wheels of the state; that 
Christians have a loyalty to Christ that is superior to 


PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS 4A 
every human loyalty; and that as Christians and as 
churches they reserve to themselves the right to, inde- 
pendent, moral judgment upon the international actions 
and policies of governments. 

The demand of the peoples of every land is for perma- 
nent peace. But the masses do not see the way. They 
need the leadership which the Christian Church should 
furnish. ‘The Montevideo Congress surely has a duty in 


seeing how this leadership can be furnished for South 
America, 


V. PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS. , 


We have in the preceding chapters summed up the 
world movements for unity and cooperation. We have 
outlined the work of the General Committee on Cooper- 
ation, and have reviewed the programs and aspirations of 
the various regional committees in South America. We 
have discussed the Church’s duty toward international 
friendship. It now remains to present a few principles 
relating to cooperation and to raise important questions 
concerning the future unity of the churches in South 
America. 

There are overwhelming reasons why cooperation ought 
to prevail. We must reface the overwhelming arguments 
in its favor and come to understand why real sacrifices of 
personal desire are justifiable for its accomplishment. 

(1) South American peoples are accustomed to the 
thought of a united Church as presented by the Roman 
Catholic Church. Great confusion is begotten in the 
minds of the people by the multiplicity of Evangelical 
names and organizations. Only as the missionary instils 
denominationalism into the national does the latter become 
a sectarian in his thinking. 

(2) There are, at present, in South America, a large 
number of thinking people who have separated themselves 
from the Roman Catholic Church, yet are Christians at 
~ heart. ‘The Evangelical churches, with their freedom of 
thought, their acceptance of modern scientific develop- 
ment and their democracy of government make naturally 
a strong appeal to this class of people. But when con- 
fronted with the necessity of selecting one out of several 


442 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


divisions of the Evangelical church and caring nothing for 
the historical differences which created those divisions, 
they are repelled from accepting any of them. 

(3) The great expense of equipment and staff in the 
large cities of South America makes it impracticable for 
any one denomination to establish educational and social 
institutions which challenge these great centers of popula- 
tion. On the other hand, the problem of reaching the 
10,000,000 Indians in South America is vastly beyond the 
resources of any one denomination. Practically every 
Christian force in South America feels the necessity of 
spending more money and effort on the work now in hand 
so as to make it more effective. It also sees the needs in 
many yet neglected fields. Cooperation is therefore at the 
very heart of the solution of every important problem to 
be considered at this Congress. 


1. Conference the Secret of Cooperation. 


The basis of all real cooperation is the habit of confer- 
ence. The history of man’s development may be divided 
into three periods. The first was that of undisturbed in- 
dividualism, the second that of conflict between policies. 
Today we are struggling into the third period, that of 
discussion which aims at the adjustment and harmonizing 
of conflicting points of view. Helpful conference recog- 
nizes certain principles. 

(a) Full liberty must be granted to everyone who takes 
part in a cooperative enterprise or in its incidental deliber- 
ations. ‘There should be no semblance of coercion and no 
embarrassment. Each party comes into a cooperative 
movement in the first place for conference. If its repre- 
sentatives do not wish to go any further they should not 
be forced. Plenty of room should be allowed for the 
differences of ecclesiastical organizations. Whenever the 
policy of a denomination does not permit its becoming a 
part of a specific movement, it should be under no embar- 
rassment on that account. There should be perfect frank- 
ness in speaking our convictions openly in love. 

(b) Conferences with those who differ from us are for 
that very reason valuable. There are those who argue that 
they do not wish to come into an organization with those 


PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS AAR 


with whom they differ or to confer with them. But the 
greatest value of conferences grows out of the discussions 
with those who hold varying viewpoints. When entered 
upon in a brotherly spirit and continued with frankness, 
such conferences reach real results. To learn from those 
who differ from us is the rich reward of the conference 
habit. It is a great mistake to refuse to attend a confer- 
ence or join an organization simply because other mem- 
bers might differ from us. In a remarkable little book 
called “‘ The Fellowship of Silence” we are told that 
“ Allan Gardiner was of evangelical upbringing, and when 
I reached Havelock to preach in his mission he told me so 
within five minutes of my entering his home; but he 
hastened to add, ‘ Therefore I told the forerunner not to 
send a low Church missioner. We know here that side 
of truth. What we want to learn is the other side, the 
sacramental.’ ” 

(c) Conference looks to the highest common ground 
and not to the lowest. In every religious organization 
there is a higher and a lower stratum of living. We ex- 
pect others to judge our own communion by its best 
representatives, those who take the highest ground. We 
must be careful to judge other communions on this 
same basis. 

(d) We are all members of one body. ‘The eye cannot 
say to the ear, because thou art not the eye thou art not 
of the body. The hand cannot say to the mouth, because 
thou art not the hand thou art not of the body. We are 
all severally members of one body. Not all have apos- 
tolic gifts. But whether large or small, we are all neces- 
sary for the accomplishment of the purposes of the Head, 
Christ Jesus our Lord. If there is to be no schism in the 
body there must be no question as to the recognition of 
this principle. 

(e) Before the South American peoples the work of 
the different bodies ‘stands or falls together. We are, 
whether we will or not, related to the other religious bod- 
‘ies. This is especially true as concerns foreign workers. 
The people in these fields do not think of foreigners serv- 
ing there as representing Presbyterians, or Disciples, or 
Methodists. ‘They think of such workers as representa- 


hts COOPERATION AND UNITY 


tives of their national church life in general. The people 
have not the knowledge to discriminate between the vari- 
ous ecclesiastical divisions developed in foreign countries 
under foreign conditions, nor do they care anything about 
these—unless some foreign worker takes much precious 
time to explain them, which ought to be taken in explain- 
ing the gospel itself. 

(f{) Above all, we must recognize that Jesus Christ 1s 
our Head. He it is that must direct our every effort. One 
of the most terrible diseases is locomotor ataxia, under 
which all bodily control is lost, so that when the mind 
orders the body to go in one direction, it is just as likely 
to go on an opposite course. The mind has lost its control 
over the body. The body then ceases to be of much use. 
Similarly, when any member of His body ceases to be 
controlled by Jestis Christ that member ceases to be of 
real use to the advancement of His Kingdom. It may be 
very active. It may exert much influence, but it is not 
building up that which the Head, Jesus Christ, is inter- 
ested in developing. 


2. The Proper Administration of Union Projects. 


The present era in the administration of Christian en- 
terprises is one of transition. It is beset by many diffi- 
culties. The tendency is markedly toward united and 
interdenominational, rather than separate denominational 
responsibility. This tendency has brought on»the system 
of committee administration, devised in order to give each 
supporting agency its voice in carrying out an enterprise. 
Committees responsible for these inter-board and inter- 
church enterprises have multiplied more rapidly than has 
the realization within the constituent organizations of the 
necessity of setting aside ample time in the work of their 
executives to attend to such enterprises. Many executives 
of denominational enterprises are so loaded with denomi- 
national obligations that union work becomes something 
extra to be done only if time from their main task permits. 
Likewise those supporting union institutions are tempted 
to answer their calls only after their own denominational 
enterprises are well supplied. This condition is likely to 
bring hardship on union work. A union school, a cooper- 


PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS 445 


ative committee, a united campaign for evangelism or any 
other cooperative effort, needs the same careful nourish- 
ing, the same undivided time of executives and the same 
promotion before the public that a purely denominational 
enterprise does. 

The pressing question of the proper attention to and 
administration and support of union projects is one calling 
for the careful attention of the Montevideo Congress. 
Either the denominations represented in such enterprises 
must be prepared to provide definitely in their schedules 
for such representation, or interdenominational adminis- 
tration must be given larger responsibilities. The marked 
impatience of workers and organizations with so many 
calls for committee meetings and for financial support on 
behalf of what too often seems an outside affair indicates 
the dangers which union work is facing, unless a less 
burdensome and a more efficient administration can be 
found. It seems to be quite clear that the Christian forces 
are determined on having more rather than less union in 
the practical program of serving the people. But there is 
danger that the very multiplication of interdenominational 
enterprises will react against unity, unless intelligent, 
scientific, spiritually efficient methods can progressively 
develop to meet the ever changing conditions, 


3. The Place of the Committee on Cooperation in Union 
Administration. 


The Committee on Cooperation in Latin America has 
given little time to preaching or even to studying the the- 
ories of cooperation. It has proceeded on) the assumption 
that the best argument for cooperation was the map of 
Latin America, and that the best justification for the 
Committee’s existence would be help rendered affiliated 
organizations to make their programs more effective. A 
review of the Committee’s history, however, does show 
certain guiding principles. In the first place, the 
Committee has insisted from the beginning that i 1s 
constituted by and 1s responsible to the constituent organ- 
izations. Each constituent body elects its own member, 
who speaks officially for his organization. In the second 
place, the Committee is primarily for conference. Agree- 


446 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


ment in theological, ecclesiastical or organizational ideas 
of the various member societies is not in any way assumed 
or expected. Any Christian organization is welcomed 
that, supporting workers in Latin America, is willing to 
discuss the common task with others who are pressing the 
teachings of Christ upon the peoples of these lands. Wil- 
lingness to sit at the Christian round table in front of the 
map of Latin America, in order to discuss common obli- 
gations, has been the only requisite for membership. In 
the third place, however, the practical solution of ques- 
tions has been continuously sought. A fixing of definite 
responsibility for certain tasks and the organization of 
certain interdenominational institutions which would both 
eliminate waste and display the Christian spirit before the 
community, have been fostered. But no organization was 
made to feel embarrassment, because it did not see its way 
to go into a particular cooperative enterprise. In like 
manner any number, small or large, could agree among 
themselves to go forward in enterprises like union schools, 
union presses, etc., without waiting for all the members 
of the Committee to participate. When any such union 
enterprise was formed, it then became a matter of the 
cooperating bodies themselves, administered by commit- 
tees set up by them, unless, by choice, the constituent 
Boards themselves should request the Committee on Co- 
operation to administer the enterprise. 

It is not to be denied that the plan for each separate 
union enterprise to have its own separate committee of 
direction has its difficulties. It sets up such a large num- 
ber of committees that the matter of getting enough 
meetings becomes a great problem. A number of union 
enterprises have thus suffered and in extreme cases have 
been abandoned, because of a lack of attention from those 
made responsible for them. There have not been lacking, 
therefore, those who feel that the Committee on Cooper- 
ation should be more largely used as the direct adminis- 
trator of union enterprises and the responsible leader of 
union campaigns for their support. The Board of Chris- 
tian Work in Santo Domingo has gone furthest in this 
matter, since it has located its administration in the office 
of the General Committee on Cooperation. A certain 


PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS 4 AT 


amount of supervision in the conduct of some of the 
union literary enterprises has also been given to this 
Committee. But the Committee has taken the position 
that it is only the servant of its constituent members, and 
that it would retard rather than put forward the cause by 
reaching out for more power than its constituent bodies 
desire it to have. 

The meeting in Montevideo will doubtless wish to in- 
quire carefully into this question to determine whether 
the Committee on Cooperation can better serve the com- 
mon cause by making changes in these details of policv 
and practice. 


4. Improvement in the Machinery of Cooperation. 


Undoubtedly the Congress will desire to face the whole 
question of the improvement of the machinery of cooper- 
ation. A vote to work together is not sufficient. An or- 
ganization must be set up, duly representative of the 
participating organizations and controlied by them, pro- 
vided with such executive help that it can carry out with 
vigor the plans which have been agreed to by all con- 
cerned. Such organizations have been attempted in the 
regional committees as well as in the general Committee. 

Experience seems to intimate several things about the 
regional committees. First, while volunteer service is 
greatly desirable, workers are usually too overloaded with 
responsibilities to undertake interdenominational services 
requiring considerable time. Therefore, only as the re- 
gional committee maintains a central office as a headquar- 
ters for the Evangelical forces of the country, with an 
executive who can give his whole time to the work, can it 
expect to cope with the tasks before it. 

Again, official and continued approval, clearly expressed 
by mission Boards and national organizations is necessary 
to assure that regional committees shall attain the prestige 
and authority needed to face effectively the serious prob- 
lems of cooperation present in each field. Great good is 
accomplished by having reiterated expressions of confi- 
dence in such committees by the missionary and Church 
authorities, just as the premiers of Great Britain and 
France have recently emphasized their confidence in the 


448 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


League of Nations by attendance at its sessions and by 
referring important problems to it for solution. 

Third, the difficulty of bringing workers from distant 
points to meetings and of caring for their assignments 
during their absence makes necessary some plan of or- 
ganizing local branches of these committees on cooper- 
ation to carry on the cooperative program in their own 
communities. 

Fourth, since their organization the national Churches 
have grown considerably. It is therefore necessary to see 
that these committees are representative of all the Evan- 
gelical forces in a country, rather than have them pri- 
marily representative of the foreign Missions working in 
that field. 

Fifth, these committees should be so flexible and repre- 
sentative that all the cooperative work done in the country 
and internationally should clear through them. Where 
separate interdenominational organizations are doing spe- 
cial work, it is easy to have them considered as taking 
upon themselves the responsibilities of the general com- 
mittee for the particular work, acting as sub-committees, 
as it were, for the regional committee in that particular 
field. Thus the work of the Sunday-schools, the Daily 
Vacation Bible schools, the temperance movement, steps in 
education and other activities have been, in some cases, 
easily related to the general committee without affecting 
their autonomy, but very greatly increasing their efficiency 
and general acceptance. This plan is particularly valuable, 
when such activities represent help from foreign agencies, 
which may have little knowledge of Latin American con- 
ditions and an insufficient time to devote to the proper 
projecting of such work. 

But all these matters of cooperation are in their first 
stages in South America. The Montevideo Congress, the 
first gathering of the forces since the organization of this 
machinery, will desire to study how cooperation can be 
made to bring about practical help, rather than simply to 
add some extra ecclesiastical machinery. Interdenomina- 
tional agencies, organized to prevent overlapping and over- 
looking, have sometimes in Anglo-Saxon countries found 
themselves in need of coordination. Such situations 


IN CONCLUSION 449 


should be prevented in South America by bringing into 
closest harmony all interdenominational as well as de- 
nominational forces. Can the regional committees, as at 
present constituted, or by certain changes, accomplish this 
purpose? Or is there some other better way to do it? 

Linked closely to this question is the one concerning the 
need of an organization of the various churches for work 
as churches, which would be separate from a more tech- 
nical organization dealing largely with administrative 
problems, such as the regional committees have been, up 
to the present time. In Great Britain and North America 
the administrative organizations have their interdenomi- 
national organization for home and foreign missionary, 
educational and social work and, in addition, the Churches 
have their interdenominational federations, which exist 
largely for the expression of the voice of the churches in 
relation to moral and social and international questions, 
where Christian principles are at issue. Whether condi- 
tions in the various countries of South America would 
suggest any such similar dual organization, is an open 
question. 


5. International Cooperation. 


How the Christian forces in the various nations may 
more closely work together needs close study. Latin 
‘American and Latin European Christians have shown in- 
creasingly during recent years the desire to reinforce one 
another. Brazil has developed close contacts with Portu- 
gal and France. Spain has formed a Spanish American 
Committee and has discussed the matter of an organiza- 
tional connection with the General Committee on Cooper- 
ation in Latin America. It is most desirable that British 
Christians should be drawn more largely into this cooper- 
ative program. 


VI. In ConcLusIoNn. 


Leaving details to the Congress itself, the Commission 
suggests that there are five urgent necessary measures of 
further advance before the Evangelical churches of South 
America. 

(1) The Christian communions separately, and in con- 


450 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


sequence associatedly, must discern more clearly than they 
do the true functions of the Church, its duties and its 
problems. | 

(2) The Christian forces, both national Churches and 
foreign Missions, in each nation need some central agency 
of cooperation, controlled and directed by them, yet pos- 
sessing their full trust and given real responsibility. 

(3) The forces possessing and directing this agency 
should use it freely and fully and discharge through it 
their common duties, instead of leaving these tasks to in- 
dependent, undenominational agencies, which act either in 
part or not at all in the name of the Church. 

(4) Between the churches of all lands there should be 
developed international understanding and _ fellowship, 
with such international instrumentalities as are necessary 
for the discharge of the international duties of the 
churches. 

(5) Interdenominational and international cooperation 
is possible only when men or groups trust one another and 
have in their central loyalty to Christ a bond of union 
stronger than any of the tendencies toward division. 

The problems which these advanced steps involve in the 
field of interdenominational action are not different in 
kind from those which exist inside each denomination. 
Interdenominational trust and unity, even international 
trust and unity, rest on the same principles as intrade- 
nominational trust and unity. They all involve one simple 
problem: Can the diversity of the body be preserved in 
the unity of the Head for an aggressive service for 
humanity ? 

This is the challenge faced by the Montevideo Congress. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 
I. PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT. 


Rev. Bishop WiiLiaAM F. Orpuam, D.D., of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in South America. 


The spiritually redeemed Church of Christ has always 
been one. The visible organization that contains this church 
split in two, forming the Eastern and Western Churches 
(Greek and Latin), not long after the time of the apostles. 
The attempt of the Western Roman Church to curtail free- 
dom of thought and conscience led to the explosive reaction 
which concreted itself in Protestantism. 

Protestantism has unnecessarily divided into over one hun- 
dred and fifty denominations. For the most part, these are 
now seeking reintegration with each other; and though a 
reunion of all the parts into one great Church may be re- 
mote, thinking and planning for it now are valuable steps 
‘towards its consummation. Many tokens of the progressive 
approach towards this end may be seen, such as the union 
movement in Canada, the demand of the Chinese and Japan- 
ese churches for unification, the South India United Church, 
the Federal Council of Churches in America, the Foreign 
Missions Conference, the Committee on Cooperation in Latin 
America, and the various interdenominational and interna- 
tional movements in Europe, such as “ The International 
Missionary Council,” “ The World Alliance for International ° 
Friendship,” “ The World Conference on the Life and Work 
of the Church,” together with such smaller groupings as 
“The World Alliance of Reformed Churches,’ ‘The Ecu- 
menical Methodist Conference,” ‘“ The Baptist World Alli- 
ance,” and “The Lutheran World Convention.” All this 
tends to show that the church is groping her way to that 
closer union which haunts the Christian imagination and 
troubles the Christian conscience. 

It is in the foreign mission fields, however, that this move-. 
ment is seen at its best. It has been happily discovered that 
“ doctrinal difficulties do not separate, if there be the common 
bond of loyalty to Christ as divine Lord and Saviour.” 


451 


452 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


The Report notes with satisfaction the growingly hearty 
fellowship and fraternity of the missionaries with the na- 
tional workers. Whatever may be the Roman attitude, we 
Evangelicals should seek to cultivate personal friendships 
and such participation in a common program for the public 
good as may from time to time be possible. Speak the truth 
we must, but that truth can always be spoken in love. 

Attention is called to the very extraordinary progress made 
in all matters of cooperation since Panama, in 1916, and 
under the general direction of the Committee on Cooperation 
in Latin America, These results are seen in (1) The larger 
Evangelical work; (2) The creation of new hospitals, of 
nursing agencies, of schools, etc.; but (3) above all, in the 
desire for closer cooperation. ‘The greatest single achieve- 
ment of the decade may well have been the launching of 
La Nueva Democracia. Its articles are copied by the lead- 
ing publications of Latin America and of Spain. From all 
these lines of quickened activities many great results are 
flowing, and of our South American field it may well be said, 
“Day’s at the dawn.” 

Some items of the effectiveness of the committee are 
tabulated: (1) The division of the territory among the de- 
nominations has been generally accepted and is working 
well. (2) Several union institutions have arisen. There 
are, today, five seminaries, three union papers and book 
stores, three union literature corporations, four union schools 
and hospitals and interdenominational summer conferences. 
There has also been a very marked advance in the creation 
and distribution of Christian literature, though much re- 
mains to be done. There has been a marked advance in the 
promotion of temperance, in which movement the W. C. T. 
U. has had a prominent part. 

Several new opportunities now present themselves for the 
widening of the cooperative movement. They are as fol- 
lows: (1) The Sunday-school committee seeks the. closer 
coordination of all the Sunday-school forces and a working 
out of a literature in religious education and with reference 
to the Daily Vacation Bible School. (2) A possible com- 
bined approach to Indian work. (3) a union theological 
seminary for which possible plans are submitted for com- 
bination, with other educational enterprises to make the 
beginnings of a commanding educational center. 

Certain new special matters are suggested which call. for 
special funds: (1) A combined approach for work among the 
students of the universities, ete.; (2) A fund for apologetic 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 453 


lectures; (3) A creation of conference centers, where work- 
ers of all denominations can gather for conference and rest. 

Denominational relations are increasingly fraternal, as 
may be seen in interchange of pulpits, in the improved tone 
of the church press, in the “church relationships committee ” 
as a “part of the Regional Commission work,” in a recent 
meeting of an “ Evangelical Congress” in Rio de Janeiro; 
in the annual conference of missionary educators both in 
Brazil and in the Rio de la Plata region. And while the time 
may not have come for any serious discussion of organic 
union, we might well consider the advisability of including all 
the churches, who will agree to it, under a common name, say 
“The Evangelical Church of , (Brazil, Argentina, etc., 
or whatever republic it may be) adding the denominational 
name, if so desired, in a bracket. 

Disregarding one acrid voice that disagrees, it may be said 
the Report is a most cheering statement of the progress of 
fraternity, and it is questionable whether the objections to 
denominational differences, so frequently heard in our own 
camp, are not greatly exaggerated, and whether they are not 
largely the echoes of our own outcries, which may, on the 
other hand, indicate our own well-founded uneasiness at 
many of the divisions amongst us founded upon matters that 
have no meaning for this field. The very existence and 
ceaseless activity of the Committee on Cooperation in Latin 
America is an ameliorating influence of which this Congress 
is itself a product and for which we are deeply grateful. 

Omitting the naming of the specific cooperative enter- 
prises that are named in the different republics, only saying 
they are numerous and varied, and yearly increasing in 
numbers and significance, reference is once more made to the 
great demand for further cooperative undertakings which 
have already been named. The Report urges that more defi- 
nite attention be given to united evangelistic campaigns. 
Another committee will bring to you a recommendation re- 
garding the continent-wide campaign which would be a very 
happy demonstration of our growing unity of movement. 
There is a call for a united front also against intrenched 
vices. The lottery, the gambling at horse races, prostitution, 
alcohol, and other great evils challenge our united strength. 

National convocations are suggested under the general 
direction of the Regional Committee. Attention is then 
called to cooperation with governmental forces as in collabo- 
rating with the Brazilian Government in its efforts to help 
the Indians, The Agricultural School at Lavras (Brazil). 





454 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


Mackenzie College, the Bunster Farm in Chile, which took 
to Chile the destroyer of the ‘“ Wooly Aphis,” and thus is 
cleaning up the orchards of Chile, The British American 
Hospital in Lima, Peru, where Dr. MacCormack and his 
staff are earning the gratitude of thousands from the Presi- 
dent and his family down to the humblest, the Y. M. C. A. 
and Y. W. C. A. in the splendid contribution they are making 
to the physical and moral development of the youth of these 
lands—all these are passed in favorable review. 

The suggestion is made that more direct effort should be 
put forth to minister to economic reform and social justice, 
and a prominent place is asked for various means to deepen 
and promote the spirit of cooperation in service, such as a 
week of united prayer, the teaching of the Christian stew- 
ardship of life, and of the brotherhood of all believers of 
whatever race; the frequent interchange of pulpits; and an 
accentuated teaching with united voice of the futility and 
positive moral wrong of war with a categorical statement of 
the many reasons that urge to a world federation for peace. | 

To bring these matters home to this generation calls for 
the united action of all men of good-will. It is a great edu- 
cational task, a cooperative task, in which, while pastors and 
teachers cannot assume the role of statesmen, they can create 
the atmosphere and teach the principles that produce states- 
men, and makes their functioning in these lines possible. 

In cooperation in all such matters for securing some com- 
munity of agreement there must be full conference among 
ourselves, frank and open, and kindly expression of beliefs 
and opinions, whether they run with each other’s or not, 
striving earnestly and patiently to reach common ground. 
South America will listen to a united voice, where a babel of 
voices will confuse. | 

The Report closes with five challenging propositions to 
which we may well give heed. (1) The separated commun- 
ions must recognize more clearly the function of the whole 
church, its problems and its duties. (2) To this end they 
need a central committee, not to control them, but directed 
by them and commanding their full trust. (3) This central 
committee should see that an adequate program is enunciated 
and constantly presented to the constituent churches. (4) 
The fruit of this activity should register in interdenomina- 
tional and international understanding and fellowship. (5) 
All this cooperation can only be produced and bound together 
by the living energy of Jesus Christ, ever present as the 
head of the Church, 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 455 


II, DEALINGS wiITH GOVERNMENTS. 


Professor Benjamin Hunnicutt, of Lavras (Pres. U. S. 
A), declared that seventeen years of experience in dealing 
with officials had given him many fine friendships and de- 
lightful experiences. He enumerated ten wise rules to be 
followed in such dealings: 


(1) Be scrupulously honest in all dealings with officials. 

(2) Stand by your convictions thoughtfully reached. 

(3) Be courteous under all circumstances. 

(4) Never lost patience. The speaker one time had to wait five 
years for official action, but finally got exactly what he 
wanted. 

(5) Prove your unselfish interest in your project. 

(6) Do not ask for a special privilege. 

(7) Remember that one good relationship established leads to 
another. Even some simple friendly connection is worth 
establishing. 

(8) Keep in mind the official’s point of view. 

(9) Use the golden rule applied with plenty of common sense. 

(10) Never hold yourself aloof from official circles and govern- 
ment leaders, 


There are two outstanding examples of the necessity of 
maintaining friendly relations with governmental officials, 
educational work and work for Indians. A missionary never 
knows when he may need to have direct contact with officials. 
Paul told his followers to respect all who wielded proper 
authority. If we show reasonable respect for the authorities 
of our district and approach them as they have every right 
to be approached, we are in most cases sure of respectful at- 
tention, even of a friendly attitude, and in the long run of 
having an adequate consideration of our needs, 


Ill. Tse ExcHance of CHurcH MEMBERS. 

Rev. F. Cesar Dacorso, of Bello Horizonte, Minas Geraes, 
Brazil, (M. E. So.) remarked that many enterprises had been 
indicated which demanded the cooperation of the different 
groups of Evangelical churches. He wished to speak of one 
more fundamental matter. Brazil is a country with more 
Evangelical denominations than any other of the South 
American countries. At present these denominations have 
no friendly understanding about the transfer of members 
from one to another or even from one church to another. 
These denominations have no well-defined districts. One 
town is occupied by one denomination, the next by another. 
Brazilians have the habit of moving. If those who move 


A56 COOPERATION AND UNITY 


away from a town are few in number or obscure, dismissals 
by letter from the church to which they have belonged are 
easily obtained. If an intellectual or a good contributor is 
among the number, he may find it quite hard to get his letter. 
The various denominations ought to respect each other and 
each other’s territory. 


IV. CuHrist1AN ENDEAVOR. 


Dr. Eleizer dos Santos Saraiva, of Brazil, said that Dr. 
Clark had made him the official representative of Interna- 
tional Christian Endeavor to the Congress, in recognition of 
his many years of dedication to Christian Endeavor work in 
Brazil. There are now one hundred and fifty Christian En- 
deavor societies in Brazil, with 50,000 members. ‘This or- 
ganization of the youth of the churches is so important that 
it should be a foremost matter of interest to every pastor. 

Christian Endeavor is world wide. ‘There are 100,000 or- 
ganized societies today. The motto of these organizations 
for youth, “For Christ and the Church,” should be a uni- 
versal motto. Such companies of youth will ever be found 
assisting in the work of cooperation. 


V. Tue CoopkrativE MovEMENT. 


The Rev. John Ritchie, of Lima, Peru, (E. U. S. A.), de- 
clared that even so representative a Congress as this one at 
Montevideo was far from representing all South America. 
He had the impression that there were fewer women mis- 
sionaries than were at Panama in 1916, and certainly that 
many excellent brethren and fellow laborers in South Amer- 
ica were still unrepresented. A spirit of opposition to 
cooperation still exists in certain quarters quite worthy of 
consideration. 

The speaker felt that this spirit was due to certain non- 
essential features of the cooperative movement. The very 
title of the Report, in his judgment, went too far. Instead 
of being Cooperation and Unity, it should have been simply — 
Cooperation. Union, in any true sense of the word, is chi- 
merical for our generation. There are worthy brethren. who 
are quite unwilling to consider unification who are entirely 
ready for cooperation. 

In other ways the cooperative movement has become en- 
tangled with ideas or movements which estrange certain of 
those who are in Christian work in South America. One of 
these is its association with pan-Americanism, which is a 
matter of international politics. Still another is its relations 





DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT ABT 


with notable South Americans who are notoriously unbeliev- 
ers, not only being in opposition to the Christian Church, 
but hostile to it. Moreover, there is need of more harmony 
between the mission Board theory of cooperation and the 
practise of some mission Board agents on the field. In- 
stances can be related which make the cultivation of a true 
spirit of cooperation among the natives almost impossible. 
Such leaders ought to be withdrawn from the field, if cooper- 
ation is to be the watchword of the future. 


Mr. Fennell P. Turner, general secretary of the Foreign 
Missions Conference of North America, declared that two 
matters had not been fully brought out in the discussions of 
cooperation. (1) That nothing is more expensive in time 
than cooperative work. The attaining of results desired re- 
quires patience, more patience, and still more patience. Con- 
ferences, tiresome as they often are, prove to be the best 
means of reaching results. When men get close together 
and give free expression to their actual views, eventually they 
discover a way of getting together, if they really wish to 
get together, 

What Dr. Ritchie and others have said is perfectly true. 
People are scared by words. They seem afraid of some par- 
ticular term to which they give a peculiar meaning. The 
way to do is to change the word and avoid trouble. 

(2) That the effective way of cooperation is to work to- 
gether. If two parties start on any feasible basis and do 
what they can together, there will always be some next step 
to take. It is a great mistake in cooperative work to wait 
until all parties are perfectly agreed. They come to a work- 
ing agreement much faster in action than in debate. 

Rev. H. C. Tucker, D.D., of Rio (American Bible Society) 
called attention to the influence of cooperative activity on the 
individual. Its value in the maintenance and character of 
institutions is, of course, unquestionable, but perhaps its 
greatest value is a reflex influence on personality, enriching 
Christian influence and enlarging efficiency. This is shown 
in the study of lives of missionaries, Those who take a 
narrow view of their responsibilities are apt to shrivel in 
their lives, whereas those who work for and with their fel- 
low men become ripened and mellow and broadened as 
they go. 


VI. Tuer Way ‘to Unity. 


Rev. Dr. S. J. Corey, of St. Louis, Missouri, (U. Cc. M. 5) 
remarked that the Disciples of Christ, the denomination to 


458° COOPERATION AND UNITY 


which he belonged, was born out of a desire for Christian 
unity. It has not always lived up to its mission, but that 
steady purpose has been of untold value as a means of devel- 
opment. ‘The desirableness of cooperation and unity must 
become a real conviction, a longing, if it is to be realized. It 
will come by way of conference and by all kinds of friendly 
adjustments, rather than by any sort of legal enactment. 
Our very presence at Montevideo is an illustration of this. 
Here we have wholly forgotten denominationalism and have 
reached high and noble spiritual levels. If we stay at these 
levels, the details of the processes of cooperation and unity 
will settle themselves. 


Rev. Luther B. Wolf, D.D., of Baltimore, Maryland, 
(Luth.) expressed the view that such a Congress as this one 
should be on a better basis of economy and efficiency. There 
are here too many North American delegates, although they 
aim to keep in the background. The Committee on Cooper- 
ation is also too much of a North American affair. Better 
results ought to come from a central committee of mission- 
aries and nationals representing South America, a committee 
in which Board secretaries would be only sympathetic listen- 
ers. The eight objectives pointed out on page 403 can 
be readily handled by such a ‘committee, even with its head- 
quarters in some South American city. 

As to doctrinal differences or statements, the Oxford 
Resolution of 1922, adopted by the International Missionary 
Council, might well be made a part of our own Montevideo 
findings. We all hold. liturgical, sacramental, and creedal 
differences which seem to us individually to be historically 
correct and important, with which, however, many others do 
not agree. But we can agree on the ecumenical creeds of 
early Christians. On the real fundamentals we are one 
and need have no difficulty in finding a basis for active 
cooperation. 


VII. Hymwnotocy. 

Rev. Othoniel Motta, of Brazil (Ind. Pres.), declared that 
the music used in church services is a matter of very great 
importance. If we are to have a national church, it ought to 
have a national hymnology.. Today, for hymns and tunes 
alike, the South American Evangelical congregations go to 
foreign sources. Quite possibly, writers of hymns can be 
found, but those who are capable of writing national music 
for the hymns are very hard to find. This is a matter to 
which attention must be given, since many of our translated 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 459 


hymns seem to a national to be neither prose nor poetry. 
English or German poetry differs so entirely from that in 
Spanish or Portuguese that fine translations cannot be 
adapted to the original music. With patience and persistence 
this difficulty can in time be remedied. 


VIII. Crosinc Remarks, 
Dr. Erasmo Braca, oF Rio. 


We are writing pages today in the history of Christianity. 
We are passing along the same road which has been trodden 
since Marburg. Cooperation is the keynote of today. We 
find it politically in the universal desire to see the League 
of Nations or something equivalent to it established. Cooper- 
ation is the most important element in developing the rela- 
tionship between labor and capital. Just so, in the Kingdom 
of Christ, the great movement of the day is the movement 
toward cooperation. All over the world there is a trend in 
this direction. We ought to be loyal to this trend without 
being disloyal to our denominational responsibilities. Such 
a double loyalty is not always easy. It is our tendency to 
sacrifice one to the other, but this tendency is not inherent. 
It is due to ignorance or to prejudice. 

In my experience, the churches are always ready for 
cooperation when wisely led. We must all plan to work 
together as a group of organizations, facing our own prob- 
lems and finding a way for dealing with them mutually. Our 
great objective must be the bringing of every factor into this 
cooperative work. Is it possible to isolate our groups of 
churches if we wish to do so? I think not, the movement 
is altogether too irresistible. 

The supreme obstacle to cooperation is personal. We our- 
selves, our puny wills, our selfish desires, get in the way. 
We must conquer ourselves, be honest with ourselves, with 
Christ, and with each other ‘and throw our whole soul heart- 
ily into this work of cooperation in promoting the cause of 
Christ. 


THE FINDINGS 


1. This Congress calls upon all believing Christians of 
South America continually to remember that we are the 
body of which Christ is the Head, and that loyalty and devo- 
tion to our Head will keep us in the bonds of the closest fra- 
ternity. We will therefore ceaselessly seek the unity of the 
spirit in the bonds of love. In all matters, when not of the 
same opinion, we will “agree to differ, but resolve to love.” 

2. Giving thanks to our Divine Lord for the measure of 
success that has attended our cooperative undertakings all 
over this continent, we increasingly recognize the value of 
these joint efforts and will promote such causes wherever 
possible. 

3. For deepening the sense of fellowship we recommend: 

(a) The united use of the “ Week of Prayer,” with a pro- 
gram suited to our needs; 

(b) The frequent use of the columns of the church press 
in explanation and illustration of the duty and value 
of cooperation. 

4. Recognizing the large value of personal contacts in 
creating good-will, we would earnestly ask for the acquiring 
of grounds and equipment suitably located for the holding of 
summer conferences for study, worship and play. 

5. But, above all, we would urgently press the matter of 
the appointment of a full-time Secretary of Cooperation for 
Spanish South America. 

6. We recommned that definite steps be taken by the Com- 
mittee on Cooperation in Latin America to secure a common 
Evangelical Spanish hymnal for South America and the 
neighboring lands, and that such a hymnal be provided in 
Portuguese also. 

rf For the large possibilities it holds for the intellectual 
classes we would ask again for the creation of an annual 
lectureship for the Christian interpretation of the great ques- 
tions of the day. 

8. We would carry into all the separated activities of the 
churches a heart of intercession for all our fellow-believers, 
so that our own separate endeavors may come to be felt and 
known as but parts of the common task. 

9. We would urge the development of higher-grade union 


460 


THE FINDINGS 461 


Seminaries, wherever possible on an intetnational basis, with 
schools of Social Science and Languages, in connection with 
which new missionaries can secure special training for 
their work, 

10. There are certain special fields that call for cooperative 
work, such as (a) work among the Indians, (b) medical and 
agricultural work, and (c) the approach to students and the 
professional classes. 

11. We would encourage the creation of centers for 
cooperative publication, and the maintenance of union book 
stores, common periodicals, etc., and the cooperative pro- 
vision of satisfactory Biblical maps. | 

12. This Congress advises that the churches should be 
known under a common name, the denominational name being 
placed in a parenthesis following, so that the name would 
read, “ The Evangelical Church of Brazil (Presbyterian),” 
“The Evangelical Church of Brazil (Methodist),” etc. 

13. We would recommend the creation of Mission Councils 
and the federation of National Churches, wherever possible. 

14. We recommend that the Regional Committee and other 
cooperative organizations of the Churches in South America 
should give studious attention to the labor problem and to 
other social and economic movements which affect the work 
of the Church of Christ. 

15. Realizing the great value to our Evangelical churches 
of the young people, and being desirous of bringing into 
helpful relations the various religious societies for young 
people, we recommend the linking of these societies in one 
general federation, as has taken place in Mexico. 


APPENDIX 


DELEGATES AND VISITORS TO THE CONGRESS 
ON CHRISTIAN WORK IN SOUTH AMERICA. 


DELEGATES. 


Avrn, Fred, (Arg.) MEFB 
ALGER, Lewis B., (US) MEFB 
v’ ALMEIDA, Nemeseo, (Bras.) 


ANDRADE, Srta. I. Martins de, 
(Bras.) MES 

Anprews, Miss Eunice F.,, 
(B ras.) 


ES 
Arms, G. F., (Chile) MEFB 


ARAUJO, Carlos, (Espafia), 
RTS 

BALLocH) VR irs ec Urig,) 
MEFB 

Barctay, Wade Crawford, 
(US) CCLA 


Barstow, Miss Grace, (Arg.) 
MEFW 


BAUMAN, Ernest, (Arg.) 
MEFB 

BrEIssELL, Miss Ina Mae, 
(Arg.) MEF W 

Brux, Enrique, (Italy) Wal- 
densian 

Somes hie Geo. L., (Bras.) 

BowMaAN, E. M., (US) CCLA 
and F 


Bowman, Mrs. E. M., (US) 
UCMS 

BRACKENRIDGE, D. C., (Peru) 
BFBS 

Braca, Erasmo, (Bras.) CC in 
B and ISAMU 

Bropersen, P, E., (Arg.) 7 
Day Adv. 

Brown, Miss Macy S., (Bras.) 
MES 

Brown, Robt. E.. (US) MEFB 

Brownine, W. E,, (Urug.) 
CCLA 


Canvier, Albert, (France) CPF 

Capigrn, Mme. A., (France) 
CPF 

CARNAHAN, C. C., (Bras.) PN 

Caen aa Mrs. C. C., (Bras.) 


CERILHANES, I. Le (Bras.) 
MES 


Cuapiin, R, L., (Arg.) ABS 

CuristraAn, R. D., (Arg.) An- 
glican, CCLA® 

CorMBRA, F., (Bras.) EA 
Hosp., Cong. Ch. of B. 

Corry, S. J., (US) UCMS 

CorNELISON, Miss Bernice, 
(Arg.) MEFW 

Cortez, Nathanael, (Bras.) PS 

Crows, W. W., (US) PS 

Crowg, Mrs. W. W., Si PS 

CusHMAN, Mrs. Jas. S CUS) 


YWCA | 
Dass, “yon Edith, (US) 


Dacorso, Filho, Cesar (Bras.) 
MES 


DarFin, R. D., (Bras.) PS 
Davison, Waldo B., (Bras.) 


Cn ob: 
Day, Albert S., (US) MEFB 
Doan, R. A.. (US) UCMS 
Dos Santos, Mattathias Gomez, 
(Bras.) PCB 
pone Julian, (Bras.) Un. 


Drees, C. W., (Arg.) CCLA 
Dinwippin, Howard B., (US) 
CMA 


Epwarps, D. R., (Chile) PN 
rior, AoW BR, oC Rawiawmes 
UCMS 


462 


DELEGATES AND VISITORS 


Epps, Miss Lelia, (Bras.) MES 

Escopar, Dra. Carmen, (Bras.) 
Ind. Presb. 

Exner, Max J., (US) CCLA 

Frnices, José, (Arg.) SPC 

ENO Federico, (Chile) 


Miss Ruth E., (Arg.) 
MS 


‘A 
FLeminc, D. J., (US) CCLA 
FLEMING, Mrs. D. J., (US) PN 
FLEMING, J. W., (Arg.) SPC 
FraccHiA, Miss Zulema, (Arg.) 
MEFW 
GauiziA, Rafael, (Arg.) UCMS 


FIsH, 


Gattinon1, J. E, (Arg.) 
MEFB 

Grimorr, EF. S., (US) CCLA 

GitumMorE, Mrs. H. V. K., (US) 
PN 

GoncaLVEz, Srta Aurea, 
(Bras.) MCB 

Gonnet, Juan P., (Urug.) 


Waldensian 
Comseits, Juan Orts., (US) 
Gouart, Jorge, (Bras.) PCB 
Griot, Oscar, (Urug.) CCLA 


GuzMAN, Idelfonso, (Arg.) 
ULA 

Harcraves, Corliss P., (US) 
MEBE 


Harris, H. S., (Bras.) SS in B. 

Hauser, Mrs. S. P., (Chile) 
MEFB 

HouimgEs, H. A., (US) CCLA 

Hotroyp, H. T., (Arg.) UCMS 

meee Miss Nancy, (Bras.) 


HounsHELL, C. G., (US) MES 


Howarp, Geo. P., (Arg.) 
CCLA 

Satan Benjamin, (Bras.) 
it 

Hype, Miss Eva, (Bras.) 
MESW 

InMAN, S. G., (US) CCLA 

InmMAN, Mrs.''S. G., (US 
CCLA 

Jackman, C. M., (US) UCMS 


Jarrett, J. L., (Col.) PN 


463 
JENNESS, me e (Chile) Un. Ch. 


JorpAN, W HU ABS 

JorDAN, a W.F ., (Panama) 
Boe 

Kerr, W. C., (Bras.) PCB 

KING, ac asain EUSA 

Knicut, E. CauitAres)i CC 


River Plate 
Lantz, D. Parke, (Arg.) Men- 


nonite 

Larson, Colonel, (Arg.) Salv. 
Army 

LigBNER, Otto, (Arg.) MEFB 

Lone, , (Bras.) MES 

MacGuirE, Meade, (US) 7 
Day Adv. 

Macuetsk1, P. O., (Arg.) 
ULA 


Mackay, J. A., (Peru)-FCS 
MacLaren, Donald C., (Bras.) 
Un. Sem. of B. 
(Espafia) 


Marguez, Elias, 
FIE 
(Chile) 
McConneL.L, Bp. F. J., 
d FC 


(US) 
CCLA an 
McConne uz, Mrs. F. J., (US) 
MEFW 
McGrecor, R. G., (US) PN 
Morags, Odilon, (Bras.) CC 


in B. 
MorerrA, Miss Juana, (Arg.) 
(Bras.) Ind. 


Maurras, Oliveira, 
PN 


_ MEFW 

Morra, Othoniel, 
Presb. 

Moura, E., (Bras.) ABS 

Munoz, F. C., (Chile) MEFB 

NorvitLeE, Miss H. K., (Arg.) 
WCTU 


(Arg.) 


OxiverrA, Jose da Silva, (Bras.) 
Cong. Ch. in 

Penzorti, F. G., (Arg.) ABS 

Prnzorti, Paul, (Arg.) ABS 

Pereira, Bernardino C., (Bras.) 
Cong. Ch. 

Puiuuips, C. A., (Ven.) PN 

Pricr, J. W., (Bras.) MES 


OLpHAM, Bp. W. F., 
MEFB 


464 


Purpy, Miss Carrie M., 
(Urug.) MEF W 

Reavis, T. F., (Arg.) CC in RP 

Resp, W. E., (Ecuador) CMA 

Rets, Alvaro, (Bras.) PCB 

Rircuik, John, (Peru) EUSA 

Rivorr, Guido, (Urug.) Wal- 
densian 

SANpeERS, F. K., (US) CRC 

SANTOS SArRAIvA, Eliezer, 
(Bras.) CE in B. | 

SERGEL, Carlos, (Bras.) PE 


SHANK, J. W., (Arg.) Men- 
nonite 

sinpvA, Oswaldo da, (Bras.) 
MES 


E 
SmitH, Egbert W., (US) PS 
SmitH, Miss Florence, (Chile) 
CE ini, 
SmirH, R. B., (Bras.) PS 
Sosa, Florentino, (Arg.) 
MEFB 
SPrre ROH CUS)i COL 
Serer,’ Mrsiev'R’ Ej oeus) 
YWCA 


SPELLMAN, D. D., (US) MEFB 
SENING Mrs. C.'M., (Chile) 
PN 


Stark, A. R., (Chile) BFBS 
Stone, J. S.. (US) MEFB 
Stuntz, Hugh, (Chile) MEBE 
Sweet, W. W., (US) CCLA 
Tatton, A. G., (Arg.) MEFB 


Taytor, Miss Lela, (US) 
UCMS 
TreLForD, Alexander, (Bras.) 


BFBS, Cong. Ch. in B. 


DELEGATES AND VISITORS 


Tuomas, W. M. M., (Bras.) 
PE, 


Town, N. Z., (US) 7 Day Adv. 

Tron, Ernesto, (Urug.) Wal- 
densian 

Tuctkes, HY Co’ CBraseyieces 

Tucker, (Mrs, Hh), Con ¢irge 
ABS 


TUDDENHAM, Mrs. B., (Urug.) 
MEFW 

Turner, A. E., (Chile) CC in 
Chile 

Turner, FP.) COS Megane 

VALENZUELA, J. S., (Chile) 
MEFB 

VANDERBILT, W. E., (Col.) PN 

VisrA, Pedro de, (Arg.) ULA 

Wappett, W..  A.,. (Bras.) 
Mackenzie College 

Warner, J. H., (Bras.) YMCA 

WasHBurn, J. E., ‘(Bol.) 
MEFB 

WHeeter, W. R., (US) PN 

Wuirs, R. J., (Arg.) ULA 


Wari, . Mrs OR. nu (Aran 
ULA 

Wintemure, H. E., (Bol.) 
Cand. Bapt. 

Wor, L. B., (US) ULA 

Worre, Mrs. F. F., (Peru) 
MEFB 


Wott, Daniel, (Peru) MEFB 
Woops, Miss Amy, (US) Wom. 

Inter. League for P. and F. 
YoporEr, C. F., (Arg.) Breth. Ch. 


VISITORS. 


ALBRICIAS, Francisco, (Es- 
pafia), MEFB 

AucrEr, Mrs. Lewis B., (US) 
MEFB 

Basser, Miss Zonia, (US) CC 

Baker, M. E., (US) UCMS 

BAKER WwMrsit Ma Past Ch ) 
UCMS . 

BattocH, Mrs. E. C., (Urug.) 
MEFB 


Bays, Miss . Mary, 


(Urug.) 
MEFW 
Baz, Mr. and Mrs., (Urug.) 
Betcuer, S. A., (Bras.) MES 
Brown, Robt. E., (US) 
Brown, Mrs. Robt. E., (US) 
MEFB 


Browning, Mrs. W. E., (Urug.) 
CCLA 


DELEGATES AND VISITORS 


Browninoc, Miss Elsie, (Urug.) 
CCLA 

Buzio, Mr. and Mrs., (Urug.) 

Cray, Rev. J. M., (Bras.) MES 

See Mrs. H. P., (Urug.) 


Cotreman, E. C., (US) CCLA 
ConeMAN, Mrs. E. C., (US) 
CCLA 


Conarp, Mr. and Mrs. P. A., 
(Urug.) YMCA 
Coox, Harold H., (Bras.) PN 


Crew,. Mr. and Mrs. M., 
(Urug.) YMCA 
Curt, Mr. and Mrs., (Urug.) 


Da Rosa, Dr. Ferreira, (Bras.) 
YMCA 

De ANcuerrA, Mr. and Mrs. 
H., (Urug.) YMCA 


Dervoussoux, Miss Adela, 
(Arg.) MEFW 

Doan, Mrs. R. A, (US) 
UCMS 


Drake, Miss Frances, (Urug.) 
YW 
Exiunp, H. M., (US) CCLA 


Ewa, Mrs). “J... CUrug.) 
YMCA 

Ewinc, Mrs. H. B., (Arg.) 
YMCA 

FERNANDEZ BRAGA, José, 
(Bras.) Cong. Ch. in B. 

Foster, Miss I. L., (Urug.) 
ME 

Gacitua, Oscar A., (Chile) 
CCLA 

Gipson, Vernon, (Urug.) 
MEFB 

Grsson, Mrs. Vernon, (Urug.) 
MEFB 

GInLILAND, Miss Helen, 


(Urug.) MEFB 
Groot, Mrs. O., (Urug.) YMCA 


Guzman, Mrs. I., (Urug.) 
ULA 

Hacar, Miss Effie, (Urug.) 
MEF W 

Hacar, Miss Esther M., 


Hacar, Miss Sarah, (US) PE 
HALL, Daniel iy (Arg.) MEFB 


465 

Harper, I. B., (Arg.) MEFB 

Hauser, Scott P. (Arg.) 
MEFB 


HounsHEuL, Mrs. C. G., (US) 
MES 

Howarp, Mrs. M. E., (Urug.) 
ME 


Humpsie, Miss Hester, (Chile) 
MEFB ; 

Irwin, Miss, (Urug.) ME 

JackMAN, Mrs. C. M., (US) 
UCMS 

Lansig, Mrs. J. E., (US) PE 

Lansine,’ Mrs. L. (gus) 


CCLA 
Lantz, Lille F. de, (Arg.) 
Lone, Mrs. C. A., (Bras.) MES 


Mennonite 


MacCornack, A. E., (Peru) 
MEFB 
MacCornack, Mrs. A. E., 


(Peru) MEFB 
MacLaren, Mrs. D. C., (Bras.) 


MacMititan, Fred, (US) 
CCLA 
Mancuester, Alan K., (Bras.) 
MarinuHo, D. Celita, (Bras.) 
MESB 
MonvTevERDE, Mrs. de, (Urug.) 
YMCA 
(Urug.) 


MureHy, Miss May, 
MEF W 


OcHoTORENA, Mrs. de, (Urug.) 
YMCA 

OLpHAM, Mrs. W. F., (Arg.) 
MEFB 

Orrick, Mr. and Mrs., (Urug.) 
MEFB 


Parker, G. D., (Bras.) MES 


Parker, Mrs. G. D., (Bras.) 
MES 

PAuLson, Leonard, (Urug.) 
YMCA 

Penroské, Miss V. F., (Chile) 
PN 

Pepper, Mr., (Urug.) 

Pike, Mrvicand Mrs. C. 03 
(Corresp. ) 

Pinto, Srta. Isabel, (Bras.) 
ME 


466 

Prick, Mrs. J. W., (Bras.) 
MES 

OuAaRnEsy AL. Gey and Mevirss 


(Urug.) Bapt. 

Rep, Miss Anne T., (US) PN 

Rem, Miss Jennie, (Urug.) 
MEFW 

RopricukEz, Mrs. Isabel (Urug.) 
ME 


Ror, Mrs. Mary, (US) CCLA 
Roupe, Mrs., (US) 
Russet, Mr., (Corresp.) 


SaBANES, Mr. and Mrs., 
(Urug.) 
Scaroni, Mr. and Mrs. J,, 


(Urug.) YMCA 
ScEALERO, Srta. Sava, (Urug.) 
SerTteMBRE, Mr. Luis, (Urug.) 
SmitH, Earl, (Urug.) MEFB 


SmitH, Mrs. Earl, (Urug.) 
MEFB 
SNELL, Miss Narcissa, (US) 
UCMS 
Edna, (Urug.) 


Snow, Miss 
YWCA 
SPELLMAN, Mrs. D. D., (US) 

MEFB 
STEARNS, Mrs. J. McD., (US) 
UCMS 


DELEGATES AND VISITORS 


Stines, Mr. and Mrs., (Arg.) 
Assos. Press 

Srong, Mrs. J. S., (US) MEFB 

Sucars, Miss Helen, (Urug.) 
MEFW 


Summers, Mr. and Mrs. J. S., 
(Urug.) 


Swaney, Mrs. Mary, (Chile) 
MEFB 

TARDAGUILA, Mr. and Mrs., 
(Urug.) 


THATCHER, Miss, (US) CCLA 
Tues, Geo., (US) CCLA 
Turis, Mrs. Geo., (US) CCLA 
Tuomas, David E., (Urug.) 
Truscort, Rev. B. R., (Arg.) 
ME 
Truscort, Rev. and Mrs. E. A,, 
(Urug.) ME 
VAN DounseLAAR, Mr. 
Mrs. Ci+t0tag® 
Venturino, Mrs. P., (Urug.) 


and 


YMCA 

Wattace, Miss E., (Arg.) 
{[EFB 

Watters, E. P. and Mrs., 
(Urug.) MEFB 

Wesster, Miss Alice, (Arg.) 


MEFW 


INVITED GUESTS. 


Barsosa, Dr. L. B. SHerta, 
(Bras.) 

Da Rosa, Dr. Ferreira, (Bras.) 

Fries, Dr. Karl, (Suisse) 

Mayers, Dra. Cora and Sis- 


ter, (Chile) 


Mouina, Dr. Enrique, (Chile) 
Netson, Dr. Ernesto, (Arg.) 
Perez; Mr. Jin Praneis co) 
Farag.) 
Satas, Marchant, Prof. M. and 
Mrs., (Chile) 


FRATERNAL DELEGATES. 


Bascock, Geo. I., (US) YMCA 

Barrerros, D. Corina, (Bras.) 
YWCA 

CuHarin, Miss Emma, (Arg.) 
YWCA 


Coates, H: P., CUrug.) YMCA 
Cortes, Srta. Elisa, (Arg.) 
YWCA 


Dr Maria DE DE SANTIAGO, Mrs. 
Berta, (Urug.) YWCA 


Dos Santos, Arthur, (Bras.) 
YMCA 

DryspaLt, Mrs. J. M., (Arg.) 
YWCA 


Ewa tp, C. J., (Urug.) YMCA 
Ewine, H. E., (Arg.) YMCA 
GALLAND, Emmanuel, (Urug.) 
YMCA 
Jounson, Mrs. 


DE Berta, 
(Chile) YWCA 


DELEGATES AND VISITORS 467 


McFariAnp, Miss Elizabeth, Prrry, Miss Sue, (Urug.) 
(Arg.) YWCA YWCA 
MONTEVERDE, Eduardo, (Urug.) Stoxerey, Miss Anna M., 
YMCA (Chile) YWCA 
Netson, Dra. Ernestina Lépez, Venrurino, Pascual, (Urug.) 
(Arg.) YWCA YMCA 
OcHOTORENA, Florencio, Vxrsry, Miss Margaret, (Urug.) 
(Urug.) YMCA YWCA 
EXPLANATION OF THE Key. 
MEFB Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 
PE Episcopal Church of Brazil. 
MES wings a Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
outh, 
AL 3 kG Religious Tract Society of London. 
CCLA Committee on Arrangements of the Committee on 
Cooperation in Latin America. 
YMCA Young Men’s Christian Association. 
UCMS United Christian Missionary Society. 
MEFW Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 
YWCA Young Women’s Christian Association. 
PN Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian 
Church in the U. S. A. 
BS Federal Council of Churches at Christ in America. 
CC Committee on Cooperation. 
7D.Ad. General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists. 
BFBS British and Foreign Bible Society. 
WALD Waldensian Church. 
CPF Comité Protestant Francais. 
ABS American Bible Society. 
PS Executive Committee of Foreign Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in the U. S 
PCB Presbyterian Church in Brazil. 
ASHA American Social Hygiene Association. 
SPCin A. Scotch Presbyterian Church in Argentina. 
MCB Methodist Episcopal Church South in Brazil. 
ULA United Lutheran Church in America. 
WSSA World’s Sunday School Association. 
FCS Free Church of Scotland. 
MEBE Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, 
SSinB Association of Sunday Schools in Brazil. 
MESW  Woman’s Missionary Council of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. 
UN. Ch Union Church. 
EUSA Evangelical Union of South America. 
FIE Federation of Evangelical Churches of Spain. 
WCTU Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. 


368 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS 


/simple unaccompanied presentation of the gospel by men 
who have the power to do so clearly, attractively and with 
passionate earnestness, will win a hearing anywhere. This 
kind of institution is particularly necessary on a continent 
where the traditional conception of religion is that it is 
separated by an impassable chasm from all thought and 
life that are worthy of the name. If the average South 
American regards religion as nothing more than ritual, he 
must be taught that in Christ’s religion form is a contin- 
gent, not a constitutive property, the expression of spirit- 
ual life, not its substitute or creator. 


DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT 
I]. PRESENTATION OF THE R¥pPoRT, 


Dr. Joon A. Mackay, oF PErRu. 


This Report discusses five great problems, every one of 
which is in a proper sense a religious problem. Most im- 
portant of these problems, the one at the basis of the solution 
of all, is what we may calla collective personality, the South 
American soul or religious consciousness. What is that soul 
and what are its needs? ‘This is a question not easily an- 
swered. The Report affords a fine study of the cultured 
Latin mind. We are dealing, however, with three classes in 
south America, (1) the highly cultured section, (2) the - 
semi-civilized, uneducated mixed population, and (3) the 
uncultured Indians. The Report is right in emphasizing the 
first class, since it is easily the directive and dominant class. 

The Roman Church constitutes a special problem, because 
it is the all powerful traditional force with which the Evan- 
gelical Church must reckon. Still other forces such as 
Theosophy, Spiritism and the like are taken into account by 
the Report, but they are only side issues. Let us ask how 
the churches are to face all these problems. ‘The answer is 
in two ways, by a new point of departure and by a new 
crusade. 

(1) As to our evangelistic point of departure, it is clear 
that we need to make a fresh survey of each field and to get 
at the real facts. Such a course will prevent missionaries 
from misjudging their people and will enable them to deter- 
mine how to carry on institutional work for each people. 
Each race has its own psychology. Again we note that it is 
needful to recognize many spiritual viewpoints other than 
our own. Altruism is displacing exploitation. Even Spirit- 
ism and Theosophy are evidences that the spirit of God is at 
work, wrongly directed, of course, but manifesting the desire 
of men to have a friend in the universe. 

As for the Roman Church, thinking minds have come to 
the conclusion that it affords no thorough solution for human 
spiritual problems nor is likely to do so. There is no Chris- 
tian term in common use which it has not distorted or viti- 


369 


470 


Church, The local; its program 
of religious education, ii. 109- 
11; elements included in a 
proper program, ii. 112 

Church in the field, i. 50-1, 61, 
ii, 3-73, 245-92. See also: 
Self-support, Self-propaga- 
tion 

Clay). dank syllseo0 

Clinics, Data regarding needs, 
i. 463-70, 479; the training of 
experts, i. 484; hospital 
plants, i. 484; examinations, 
i. 479 

Coimbra, Felinto, i. 489-90 

Colombia: Unoccupied areas, 
i. 63, 68, 79-80, 128; Indians 
in, i. 159-61, 218-19 ;~Educa- 
tion in, . i.,,,254-57;,... Public 
health in, i. 468, 472, 474, 
477; Evangelical church in, 
ii. 26-29 

Colonies, foreign, i. 104-7 

Commission on Curriculum 
Construction, ii. 117, 132 

Commissions, Membership of, 
i, 10-20 

Comnuittee on Cooperation in 
Latin America; its functions, 
i. 66-7; history of, i. 4-8, 
399-401; Place in union ad- 
ministration, ii. 445-47 

Cooperation and unity, Report 
of Commission XII on, ii. 
387-461 

Corey, S. J., it. 457-8 

Cornelison, Bernice, ii. 155 

Cortez, Nathaniel, i. 137 


Dabb, Edith M., 1. 216-17 
Dacorso, F. Cesar, ii. 450-6 
Daffin, R. D., i. 379, ii. 154-372 
Daily Vacation Bible Schools, 
ii. 96-99, 135-8; program of, 
ii. 137; possibilities of in 
South America, ii. 127-8 
Davison, W. P., ii. 234-5 
Day, A. E., i. 448-9 
Delimitation of territory; Pres- 
ent adjustments, i. 65-75 


INDEX 


dos Santos, Mattathias Gomez, 
i. 136, 377-8, 382-3, ii. 232-3 

Drees, Chas. W., i. 55 

Duncan, Julian S., ii. 64-5 


Ecuador: Unoccupied areas in, 
i, 62, 69, 78-9, 127-8, 136; 
Indians in, i. 161-7; Educa- 
tion, jin, 1.) 257-83), aie 
health in, i. 468, 474, 477 

Educated classes; importance 
of in South America, i. 89- 
90; methods of reaching, 1. 
89-100, 133-4, 372 

Education, See Report Com- 
mission IIT, 1. 231-332; in 
various South American 
countries, i. 233-268; self- 
support in, i. 276-80; evan- 
gelistic results of, i. 295-7; 
elementary education, i. 314; 
higher education, i. 316; gen- 
eral educational conditions in 
South America, i. 233-6; Co- 
education, i. 325-6; two im- 
portant needs, i. 327-8 

Education, Religious; Experi- 
ence an essential factor in, 
ii. 87-90; what it should 
achieve, ii. 81-3; seven im- 
portant principles of, ii. 85- 
93; in the Roman Catholic 
Church, ii. 93-4; in the local 


church, ii. 98-118; among 
young peoples’ societies, 1i. 
102-7; Weekday religious 


education, it. 109, 115; mate- 
rials of, ii. 112-16; religious 
education in the home, ii. 
118-20; in mission schools, 
ii. 121-27; pastors in educa- 
tion, ii. 128-9; literature, 11. 
ee cooperation in, ii. 139- 

Epps, Leila Fi. 382, ii, 232 

Ethical revival in South Amer- 
ica. i. 55-6; its practical ex- 
pression, i. 57-61 

Europe, its relation with Latin 
America, i. 50-2 


INDEX 


Evangelical Churches, See 
Church in the field: their sta- 
tistical growth, i. 61-3; the 
church in the capitals, i. 63- 
5; their right to be, i. 133-4; 
classes unreached, i. 136-7; 
errors in their work, ii. 53-6 

Evangelical missions in South 
America: Wrong attitude to- 
ward, i. 51-2; Developments 
favorable to, i. 52-3, 61; 
Methods, i. 337-85; Progress, 
ii. 51-6 

Evangelical University Feder- 
ation of, Brazil, ii. 140 

Evangelism, Report of Com- 
mission IV on, i. 337-85 

Ewald, Chas. J., i. 133-5, 140 

Ewing, H, E., ii. 373 

Exchange professorships, 1. 
293-5 

Exner, Max, i. 327, 487-8 


Feminist Movement in various 
countries, i. 409-20; its gen- 
eral advance, i. 451-2 

Fereira, Bernardino, i. 381 


Figueroa, F., ii. 375 

Fleming, Daniel J., i. 323-4, 
ii. 150 

Galizia, Rafael, ii. 65-6 

Gattinoni, Juan, i. 378-9, ii, 
290-1 


Gilmore, E. S., 1. 488-9 

Girls’ Clubs Movement, i. 400 

Girls’ Guides Movement, ii. 139 

Goulart, George, i. 137-8, ii. 68, 
374 


Gran Chaco, i. 198-210, 220 

Guianas, The, i. 63-75, 129, 220, 
349 

Hall, Daniel E., ii. 150-1 

Hargraves, C. P., ii, 149-50 

Harris, Herbert S., i. 326, i. 
152-3 

Hauser, Mrs. Scott P., ii. 151 

Health ministry (See general 
report on Medical Missions 
and Health Ministry, i. 461- 
93; Progress in, i. 57-8; 


A471 


Situation concerning in each 
South American state, i. 
473-4 

Holmes, Henry A., i. 321-3 

Hospitals (See Medical Mis- 
sions and Health Ministry, 
i. 461-93); the general situ- 
ation, i. 463-70, 486; evan- 
gelistic use of, i. 470-2; limi- 
tations on the usefulness of, 
i. 486-7, 487-90; plans for, 
i, 491-2 

Hounshell, C. G., 1. 379, ii. 153 

Hunnicutt, Benj., i. 382, 449, 
ii. 374, 455 


Immigrants, 1. 100-3, 136, 394- 
6. See also Colonies, foreign 

Indians of South America 
(See Report Commission II, 
i. 147-222); an Indian de- 
fined, i. 148, 214; education 
of, 1. 244 

Industrial problems, i. 58. See 
also Laboring classes 

International Board of Health 
of the Rockefeller Founda- 
tion, i. 57 note 

International relationships: un- 
derstanding, i. 50; friendship, 
il, 434-6; cooperation, ii. 436- 
44] 


Jarrett, John L., 1. 218, 488 

Jenness, James F., ii. 61, 373 

Jesus Christ, appreciation of, 
i. 50; teachings of, i. 53-4 

Joint Advisory Committee on 
ya eee and Materials, ii. 
43 

Jordan, W. F., i. 218 

Knight, E. C., i. 220, 328, ii. 153 

Laboring classes, i. 108-7, 366- 
7, 421-9 (Labor Movement) ; 
See also Industrial. Prob- 
lems, Social Reform, Peon- 
age, Land Problem 

Land problem, i. 392-3 . 

La Neuva Democracia, ii. 186- 


7, 199, 210, 238 


A712 INDEX 


Latin America: Increasing 
knowledge of, i. 50-1; Atti- 
tude toward UV. S., ii. 47-51 

Leaders, Development. of, i. 
298-301, ii, 92, 107, 116, 126, 
129-32 

Leprosy in South America, 1. 
136-7, 487-8 

Lima, i. 64 

Literature (see Report of Com- 
mission IX, ii. 161-240); for 
children, ii. 232-3; for edu- 
cated people, ii. 233-4; issued 
by the Committee on Cooper- 
ation, ii. 183-4, 238 

Long, Chas. A., 11. 288-9 


MacCornack, A. E., i. 491-2 

Mackay, John, i. 189» 327-8, 
ii, 369-70 

Marchant, Mrs. M. Salas, 1. 452 

Marqués, Elias, ii. 371 

McConnell, Bishop F. J., i. 30- 
8, ii. 62-4 

Medical Missions and Health 
Ministry (Report of Com- 
mission VI on, ii. 461-94) 

Missionaries: Training and 
methods of work, i. 337-385 
(Com. on Evangelism); At- 
titude towards native work- 
ers, il. 245-92 

Montevideo, i. 63 

Moraes, Odilon, i. 221 

Morris Schools of Buenos 
Aires, i. 248, 328, 11. 30 

Motta, Othoniel, ii, 69-70, it. 
233-4, 458-9 © 

Moura, E., ii. 290 

Mufioz, F., i. 449-50 


National Sunday School Asso- 
ciations; of Chile, ii. 140; of 
Argentina, ii, 141 

Nelson, Ernesto, 284-5. See 
also i. 447-8 

Norville, H. K., i. 453 

North America, i. 50-1 

Nurses, trained; Importance of, 
i. 486; low status of at pres- 


ent, i. 465, 486, 489; plans for 
training, i. 486, 489, 491 


Oldham, William F., i. 139-40, 
ii. 451-4 

Orts-Gonzales, Juan, i. 138, ii. 
237-8, 288, 370-1 


Panama Congress, i. 53, 56, 61 


note, ii. 182, 279-80 

reais Child Congress, 
i. 

Pan American Conference, i. 
58, i. 251, ti. 413-14 

Pan American Union, i. 51 

Pan American Woman’s Con- 
gress, i. 59 . 

Paraguay: Unoccupied areas, 
i, 62, 72-3, 80, 115-7; Educa- 
tion in, i. 259, 278-9, 281-2, 
283-5, 288, 290-1, 293, 294-5, 
296, 297, 299, 306-11; Women 
in, i. 417-9; Public health in, 
i. 470, 472, 478; Evangelical 
Church in, ii. 29-39; Cooper- 
ation in, ii, 414-5, 419-20, 
422-4, 429-30, 433, 435-6 

Peace, ii. 436-41 

Penzotti, Paul, i. 214-5 

Peonage, i. 393-4 

Peru: Unoccupied areas, i. 63- 
4. 69-71, 77-8,:127; Indians 
in, i. 167-178, 219-20; Edu- 
cation in, i. 260-4, 275-6, 
279-80, 285, 288, 291, 293, 297, 
299-300; Evangelical growth 
in, i. 347; Temperance in, 
i. 406; Women in, i. 416-7; 
Labor in, i. 427-9; Public 
health in, i. 468, 472, 474, 
477; Evangelical church in, 
ii, 22-6 

Price; J2\W., 1. 380 

Racial characteristics (Iber- 
ian), i. 300-9 

Reed, W. E., i. 136, 218 


. Regional committees, ii. 67, ii. 


411-436 
Regional conferences in Latin 
America, i. 78-9, 91-2 
Regional Congress on Chris- 
tian Work in Chile, Santi- 
ago (1916), cited, i. 71-2 


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INDEX 


Reis, Alvaro, i. 138, 378, it. 
151, 236-7, 371-2 

Relations between Foreign and 
National Workers (Report 
of Commission X on, ii. 245- 
292) . 

Religion: Attitude towards in 
South America, ii. 51-6, 309- 
324; Among the educated 
classes, i. 53-5, 339, 345, 364 

Religious education (Report of 


Commission VIII on, ii. 81-/ 


158). 
ligious 
Rio de Janeiro, i. 63-4 
Ritchie, John, i. 137, 219, . ii. 
230-2, 456-7 
Rockefeller Foundation, ii. 465, 
475, 478, 486, 489 
Rod6, José Enrique, cited, i. 57 


See Education, Re- 


Rodriguez, Isabel. G._ de, 1. 
452-3 

Roe, Mary W., i. 215-6 ) 
Roman » Catholic © Church,, . ii. 


324-349; Attitude of Evan- 
gelical Christians towards, i 
359-61, ii,., 347-9; . Educa- 
tional work, 1. 241-268; Place 
in South American countries, 
ii. 54; Religious education 
of, it. 93-5; Work for In- 
dians by, i. 158-205 


Rural communities, 1. 


Sanders, Frank K., 

Santiago, Chile, i. 64 

Santos Saraiva, Eliezer de, 
ii. 233, 456 

Self-propagation in the Evan- 
gelical churches, ii. 271-3 

Self-support in the Evangelical 
churches, ii. 271-9 

Silva, Oswaldo da, ii. 289 

Smith, Egbert W., i. 217-8, 
380-1, ii. 154-5 

Smith, Florence, i. 138, 445-7 

Social gospel, 1. 354, ii. 44-7. 
See also: Social reform, So- 
cial service, Church and the 
Community 


108-10 
1. 319-21 


473 

Social Movements (Report of 
Commission V on, i. 391-455) 

Social Reform, i. 57-8, 60, 354- 
8, 391-455. See also: Child 
Welfare, Health, public, So- 
cial gospel, Social service 

Social Service, i. 436-443, 461- 
494, ii. 7-73 

Soldiers and sailors, Work for, 
i. 110-111 

Special religious problems 
(Report of Commission XI 
on, il. 299-377) 

Spining, C. M., 1. 490 

Statesman’s Year Book (1924), 
i. 63 note, 86 note 

Statistics of Evangelical, Mis- 
sions, i. 61-2, 347-8 

Student classes in South Amer- 
ica: Attitude. towards re- 
ligion, i. 53-5; Interest in 
political and social reform, 
i. 59-61; Methods of reach- 
ing, i. 92-9, 366-7; Student 
movement, i. 429-434 

Stuntz, Hugh C., ii.’ 153-4; 233 

Sunday-schools; See Religious 
education, Report of Com- 
mission VIII on, ii. 81-158; 
qualifications of the teacher, 
ii, 92-3; Sunday-school as- 
sociations, ii. 97; the pioneer 
type of school, ii. 98, 99, 134; 
the semi-organized type, ii. 
99-101, 134; the well devel- 
oped type, ii. 101. 

Sweet, W. W., i. 324-5 


Tallon, A. G., i. 378, ii. 66-7, 
289-90 


Telford, Alexander, i. 381-2 


Temperance, i. 58, 403-9 
Thomas, W. M. M., ii. 70 
Tron, Ernesto, i. 381 
Packer (eC "13627, 
Turner, A. E.,\11):372 
Turner, Fennell P., ii. 457 


Unoccupied fields (Report of 
Commission I on, i. 45-142) 


47 4 


Uruguay: Unoccupied areas, 
i, 63, 72-3, 80, 112-15; Edu- 
cation in, i. 264-6, 278-9, 
281-2, 283-5, 288, 290-1, 293, 
294-5, 296-7, 311; Temper- 
ance movement in, i. 405; 
Women in, i. 414-415; Labor 
in, i. 422-4; Public health in, 
i. 465-7, 471, 473, 475, 479; 
Evangelical church in, ti. 29- 
39; Cooperation in, ii. 414-5, 
419-20, 422-4, 429-30, 433, 
435-6 


Valenzuela, J. S., ii. 69, 374-5 

Venezuela: Unoccupied areas, 
i. 63, 68-9, 129; Indians in, 
i. 153-9; Education in, i. 266- 
9, 276, 280, 282, 286, 289, 
291-2, 293, 297-8, 301, 311-2; 
Evangelical growth in, 1. 346; 
Public health in, i. 469, 472, 
478; Evangelical churches in, 
ii. 39-42; Cooperation in, ii. 
415-6, 420, 424-5, 430, 433, 
436 

Waddell, W. .A., i. 138, °325, 
452, ii. 151-2, 287-8 


INDEX 


Washburn, J. E., i. 220, 325-6 

White, Ralph J., i. 220, ii. 235-6 

Wintemute, W. E., ii. 373 

Wolf, Luther B., i. 328-9, it. 
152, 458 

Woll, Daniel, ii. 67-8 

Women in South America: 
Awakening of, i. 59, 409-421; 
Methods of reaching, i. 99 

Workers, National, ii. 245-292 
(Commission X) 

World Missionary Atlas 
(1924), i. 61 note, 86 note 

World War, i. 53 

Worship, training in, ii. 115 


Young Men’s Christian Associ- 
ation, i. 95-8, 101-3; religious 
education in, ii. 136 

Young People’s societies: See 
Religious Education, Report 
of Commission VIII on, ii. 
81-158 . 

Young Women’s Christian As- 
sociation, i. 103, 419-20, il. 
136 

Youth Movement in South 
America, i. 59-61 


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